Promised Hell
by wingeddserpent
Summary: Every sinner has a future, every saint has a past. The tale of two wayward sinners on a quest meant for heroes, and if it's anything Yuffie and Vincent aren't, it's heroes. Minor AU, Minor Yuffentine and other pairings.
1. Chapter 1

Promised Hell

Promised Hell

Prologue: Part One

Disclaimer: I wish I owned final fantasy VII. I don't, but the plot… that is mine.

Author's Note: This story was formerly The Forgotten, but since it was so different, it's become its own story. I've been working really hard on this, so hopefully it's turned out all right. Thanks to my friends who've listened to me rant about this story, and to Star Anise, for beta-ing for me.

* * *

As any self-respecting, Leviathan-worshipping Wutain will say, one can go three places when they die. The first place is known as the Lifestream; four out of five people will return to the Planet and join with the Lifestream. That is where those who have done nothing exceptional in terms of Good or Bad deeds will go after their Life has ended.

Rarer are those who do not end up in the Lifestream. The ones who were truly Evil and had almost no redeeming features in Life will go to Hell. Similar to the Lifestream, Hell is the breakdown of consciousness; however, Hell is an emergence into Sin. By Sinning in Life that is all that greets one in Death. Punishment for a Life ill-spent is a Death where one cannot escape it.

Finally, there are those who do not go to Hell, or rejoin with the Lifestream either. The truly Good people will go to the Promised Land, the Land of Supreme Happiness. Though it is said that only the Cetra can go to the Promised Land, any truly Good person can end up there.

The self-respecting Wutain will then go on to say, each person is judged by Leviathan when they Pass On. Each Sin and Good deed is weighed upon the Scales of Leviathan. Should the Scales be Balanced, the person will join with the Lifestream once more. Should they be Tipped towards Sin the person shall be damned to Hell; and should they be Tipped towards Good, the person is granted entrance to the Promised Land.

"So be good, and Leviathan willing, we will all meet again in the Promised Land."

**_Prologue: Part Two_**

**Silence whispered**

_Screams echoed in the night_

**There was no sound**

_Agonizingly loud and anguished_

**No wood creaked with age**

_Fire roared in the forest_

**The velvet muffled even the flies**

_The sea crashed on the beach_

**However, even the flies were scared of this place**

_Its foam ran crimson with blood_

**A twenty-seven year old man slept in a coffin**

_A ten-year-old girl stood on the beach_

**But he wasn't alone**

_Alone_

**He was never alone**

_She was always alone_

**Never**

_Always_

Two moments in time, two people, two beginnings. Neither of them dreamt they could have ended up tangled in anything so Noble, for they were far too Immoral. However, the most surprising thing was how it ended.

_**See you in Hell.**_

Their story ended in the most unlikely of places. But remember, the end of one story is the start of another. Sinners might just become Saints. Saints might just become Sinners. One never knows where a story will end, or where it will begin. One can only pull up a chair and watch as the story unfolds.

**_Chapter One_**

Yuffie stared at the old locked door in disgust. There had never been a door the sixteen-year-old ninja could not pick, until now. No matter which way she twisted the thin piece of metal with her long and quick fingers, the result was the same. The damn door was locked.

The ninja exhaled through her thin, rose-colored lips, a strand of uneven black hair went flying out of her face. "It's no good, Aerith; that's a demon door or something, I can't open it. How much do I owe ya? Ten gil?"

Behind Yuffie, a brunette woman in a soft pink dress shook her head. "You owe me 50 gil and a Level Two materia," said Aerith matter-of-factly.

"Right," the ninja forced a small smile and handed the bag with the gil and materia to the slim woman.

"Thanks!" the Cetra said with a broad grin, "I'll open the door now!" Brown boots padded on the ground as she slipped past the sulking teen; the golden bangles on her wrists jingled as she inserted the old rusty key into the lock.

"Wait!" her bodyguard said.

Aerith ignored him as she turned the piece of metal, a _click_ resounding in the corridor. "Aerith, we don't know what's in there! We have to be careful!" the other brunette woman had spoken up.

"I know, Tifa," with a quick push, the door was open, "I'm being careful." Her bright emerald eyes fixed on the interior of the room, Aerith darted inside.

"Aerith!" Cloud, Tifa, and Yuffie ran after her only to stop seconds later, gagging.

"Ugh, what _is_ that?" whispered the ninja a gloved hand clamped over her mouth.

"Death," answered Tifa into her arm, trying to smother the cold, bitter stench.

The Cetra stopped in the middle of the darkened room, her eyes glassy. Cloud tried to walk over to her, but his foot caught on something on the floor. He pitched forward and landed on the ground with a grunt. Mako blue eyes turned to the object he had tripped on with a sharp gasp. A coffin. Cloud turned his head quickly, taking in the rest of the room. Coffins littered most of the stone floor, and the scent of decay seeped from them like the plague. One coffin stood in the center of the room, separate from the rest. Black paint peeled from it, as the breeze of the outside world struck it for the first time in what was obviously many years, judging by the amount of dust that coated the basement.

"Gross-ness! This is like… way creepy!" Yuffie's voice was shrill, "Let's get out of here!" She was not afraid, of course. A good ninja is _never_ even a _bit_ scared.

"There's someone in the coffin," said Aerith softly.

Tifa shot Aerith a wide-eyed glance, "Or… some_thing_…" Tifa added slowly.

Eyes glued on the center coffin, she said, "We need to get them out."

"How do we know it won't pop out and suck our blood? You have no idea what's in Nibelheim!"

"We can't just leave them there!"

"Yes we can. We walk back outside, lock the door, and keep on walking," Yuffie said with a snort.

"That's enough, Aerith's right. We'll get the person out. But," Cloud added, "be on your guard. Tifa's right; we don't know what's in there."

"But–"

"Listen to Cloud," snapped Tifa, wine-colored eyes on Cloud as he moved towards the coffin and pried off the lid.

A man burst out. Yuffie bit back a scream as curious ruby eyes surveyed the group. Long, ebony hair fell in disarray around the billowing red cloak that obscured his long and lanky form. Cloud stared at the man with a raised eyebrow. "Who're you?"

"You must leave this place. It is the beginning of your nightmare," a monotone voice said from beneath the cloak.

The three females exchanged glances as the blonde leader began to speak as the coffin man listened on. "He's a vampire," Tifa whispered, "Why else would he be so pale, and what was he doing in a coffin? Besides, you saw his eyes, right? They're red!"

Shaking her head, the Cetra said, "I don't think that's it… He doesn't seem evil… I think he's a martyr! In the coffin to pay for his beliefs…"

Face turned away from the man in question, the ninja said softly to conspirators, "Everyone knows red eyes mean demon."

"Can't be," said Aerith frowning, a quick peek at the man reassured her suspicions, "He's got Mako eyes."

Slanted eyes shot up and her face paled, the once tan color changing to grey – it was true, the man's eyes glowed with Mako. "I'm going outside." Her footfalls echoed as she made a hurried retreat through the deserted corridor with the hazy purple light.

Long strides stirred the accumulated dust that can only be attained through years of severe neglect. It was hard to tell this place had once been a Shinra Mansion. Then again, it was hard to tell which things _had_ belonged to Shinra, and which things belonged to Shinra _now_. The entire world seemed to be in various states of disrepair and despair. Her gaze directed itself on the forgotten town that should have been a pile of ash, and she dashed through until she entered a forest. Tall trees enclosed the teenager. She had spent a lot of time in this forest before she had relocated to the Forest of Junon. Yuffie turned her face towards the green-canopied sky as a deep shudder ran down her spine. _"He has Mako eyes."_ _"They say his eyes glow with the fury of ice."_ The ninja shook her head. They weren't the same people. This man had Mako eyes, so what? That didn't mean anything. Cloud had Mako eyes too, it wasn't a big deal. A deep lungful of air did little to calm her down while she continued to shake. Yuffie sank to the ground, thin arms wrapping themselves around her bent knees. "I need to calm down. _Calm_…"

Back in the coffin filled room, the two women watched as Yuffie all but sprinted from the mansion. Aerith bit her lip and said slowly, "The last time I saw her like this was when she met us the first three times…"

"No, it was when she first met Cloud," Tifa replied.

"But why… It was the eyes! Do you think–"

"She's afraid of Mako eyes?"

"It would make sense… Maybe she's gotten used to Cloud, so if–"

"She spends time around him, she'd–"

"Stop being scared of him!" Aerith concluded.

_Snap._ The coffin closed as the pale-skinned man returned to his slumber.

Deep frown etched onto his already drawn face, Cloud turned back toward his two best friends. One was his childhood friend, Tifa Lockheart; they had been very close to each other as children. _Hadn't they?_ Of course they had. They'd used to… Her favorite food back then was… Her favorite color was… Was… Maybe they just hadn't done stuff like that. But they had been close enough to make a promise. He would come and rescue her after he became part of SOLIDER. His other friend was a rather new one, Aerith Gainsborough. He'd met her a couple months ago, and had gotten her out a tight spot. In fact, he was her bodyguard in exchange for a date. He turned to where the ninja had been minutes before. "Where's Yuffie?"

"Outside," shrugged Tifa.

A deep sigh drew itself from his lips, before he nodded, "Let's mosey."

Once more, the gunslinger listened as footsteps sounded in his domain as he willed himself to sleep and atone. Those people had had nothing to do with him. Sephiroth.V. Hojo had nothing to do with him; his last name was _Hojo_, not _Valentine_ even if he wished it was. Besides, those people were on a quest to save the world. A task a demon such as him could not hope to assist in. However, they were against Shinra...

_**Hojo**_**.**

A mental curse directed itself at his demon. The beast had a point, Vincent Valentine was forced to concede. He might get revenge on the mad scientist if he went and that was one thing he could not do if he stayed. Rough wood met Vincent's hand as he pushed the heavy lid off with a loud _thud_. Purpose renewed, the man was ready to meet the world and live once more.

"Wait. If I come with you, will I meet Hojo?" asked Vincent as he blocked their path in the corridor.

"I don't know. We might. We're after Sephiroth; seems likely we'll find Hojo too," Cloud said with a shrug.

"I would like to come with you. My name is Vincent Valentine."

Cloud's eyebrows shot up, Valentine… _Sounds familiar…_ "I'm Cloud Strife. This is Aerith Gainsborough," a calloused hand gestured at the Cetra, who waved, "and this is Tifa Lockheart," his hand pointed at the martial artist.

"Was there not another with you?" the gunslinger asked, a regal eyebrow arched.

"She's afraid of Mako; your eyes scared her, we think. Could you go talk to her?" Aerith asked hands clasped before her.

"I do not think–"

"Thanks! She'll probably be in the forest," Tifa cut in.

How he had been roped into tracking down a Wutain girl, Vincent was never quite sure. Either way, his metal-clad feet led him to the forest where he saw the girl.

"Who're you?"

"Vincent Valentine."

"The name's Yuffie Gast."

"…Gast?" his voice sounded stiffer than it had mere seconds before.

"Yep. Got a problem with it?" his enhanced eyes were barely able to see her pick up an oversized shruiken and rest it on the huge armguard she wore, the movement was so fast. Though the stance was casual, he knew the mark of a shinobi when he saw it – one wrong move or word, and this whole encounter would turn messy.

"No, I simply knew a man with the last name Gast a long time ago. He did not have a daughter then."

"Oh. I think he talked about some Valentine guy a couple times."

Red eyes closed for a moment, he said, "I see."

Three seconds of silence followed the awkward phrase, before the ninja glanced up at his now open eyes and closed her own, "Anyway…"

"You are frightened of Mako," remarked the gunslinger.

Cheeks puffed out in fury, Yuffie said, "Nuh uh!"

"I apologize. Mako eyes."

"Wha– How–?"

"Ms. Gainsborough and Ms. Lockheart informed me."

Yuffie's eyes flew wide, "How did they know?"

"…"

"Damn, I was kinda hopin' ya knew."

"Why are you afraid of them?"

"Why were you sleeping in a coffin?" she retorted, "I'll tell you, if you tell me."

Vincent looked at her in surprise, "I was atoning."

"Funny way to repent, but eh, who am I to judge?" With a shrug, she continued, "Mako eyes scare me 'cause the guy who… destroyed my mother had 'em, and I've never gotten over it. But ya know, once you get past the glowy thing, you have pretty eyes."

Light pink worked its way to his cheeks, and he thanked all the gods for his cape, as he said, "Pretty?"

"Yep. Ya know, Tifa thinks you're a vampire because of the coffin, the cape, and the eyes. But Aerith thinks you're not evil, so to her the eyes and the coffin mean you're a martyr. I don't–"

"I am none of those things."

"I know. Everyone knows that red eyes are the mark of a demon," her wide grin grew feral; "It'd be cool if you were a demon. They sound, like… way _cool_."

"You should not wish for such things. The Gods have a tendency to grant such foolish wishes," Vincent said eyes cold.

"Leviathan's love of irony, yada yada yada. Boring. Life's no fun without danger," Yuffie grinned, "Let's go back; Cloud probably wants to 'mosey' and we're holding him up. You're comin', right?"

A nod affirmed her question, as the two went back to town, where Cloud was indeed waiting. As Cloud began to talk about parties and traveling through the mountains, Aerith whispered to Vincent, "How did it go?"

"Fairly well," the man said back quietly.

"She calmed down about your eyes?"

"Yes."

"Good. By the way, she probably took your wallet; you might want to get that back…"

His human hand darted to his pocket, before a soft groan escaped his lips. His wallet was indeed gone. Brilliant.

"Good luck," with a wave, the Cetra went back to Tifa and listened intently to Cloud.

After a few more through checks, the gunslinger was sure that Ms. Gast had taken his wallet. A quick glance revealed little about the girl – she looked like the average teenager, not a thief. He would have to be more careful… and not just because she was a thief. She was also Professor Gast's daughter… she probably knew about his demons; she had so obviously been taunting him earlier with her demon remarks. Teenagers were indeed cruel and sadistic creatures.


	2. Chapter 2

Promised Hell

Chapter Two

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot.

Author's Note: This is not my favorite chapter by any means. But it's necessary, so therefore, here it is. Once again, thanks to my friends for putting up with me, and Star Anise for beta-ing.

* * *

"Aerith, Yuffie, and Vincent, I want you guys to check out the Reactor on the way to Rocket Town, ok?"

"Whoa! Wait, you're putting me and Aerith on the same team as Mr. Tall-Pale-And-Scary?" asked Yuffie hands on her hips.

Vincent, Cloud noted, didn't look exactly thrilled with the arrangement either. "Is there a problem?"

"Ye–"

"Nope," Aerith interrupted the ninja with a sweet smile.

"Good, all right everyone," the blonde addressed the entire group, "Let's mosey!" With that, the rag-tag-would-be-saviors-of-the-Planet left the town of Nibelheim.

"What's the deal with 'mosey' anyway? It's like, waaay retarded!" grumbled Yuffie, "And why do _we_ hafta break in the newbie anyway? You'd think he'd get off his lazy ass and do it himself, like he did with me!"

"Yuffie, it's rude to talk about people like they're not there!" the Cetra said as she shook her head.

"Whatever," she shrugged, then put on a nasally voice, "_Go check the Reactor. _We don't even know where the Reactor is! He shoulda given us Tifa insteada Valentine – no offence, but we don't have time to baby sit when we hafta check out a smelly old Reactor, and get to Rocket Town."

Vincent raised an eyebrow, "Baby sit?"

Once more, Aerith shook her head apologetically, "Well, please don't take this the wrong way, but… We can't be sure about… well… how good you are… So Yuffie and I are here to make sure you don't die or anything. Basically, to make sure you're fit to come…" she scratched the back of her head sheepishly.

A sigh escaped his lips, but he said, "Of course."

The path from the town of Nibelheim that lead to the Nibel Mountains was obviously old and well used, but Vincent saw that there were no recent footprints, so it must have been a while since anyone had traveled the road through the mountains. The group walked down the shadowed road that lead them closer to Sephiroth with, they hoped, quiet footsteps, and a certain amount of apprehension. Soon, the path changed from the tightly packed dirt road into a broken rock path, which meandered through the mountains while wisps of dark clouds flitted around the foreboding, jagged peaks that stretched high into the sky. The light given by the rising sun shone eerily around the clouds, and the Cetra sucked in her breath, eyes wide. "It's beautiful…"

"More like creepy," said Yuffie snarkily.

"I hardly see how this is relevant," pointed out Vincent, "Perhaps we should continue?"

Mouth open to retort, Yuffie's tennis shoe caught on an uneven stone and she fell forward, hands flying forward in an attempt to save herself from what promised to be a very painful fall. Suddenly, she was not falling anymore as muscular arms wrapped around her slim frame; then pulled her into a standing position. "Uh… thanks Vincent…" her eyes made contact with Aerith's briefly, before they darted back to her savior, "Yeah… thanks loads! Can't be damaging my pretty face, can we?"

"…"

"It was a joke, Vincent," Yuffie said, "You're supposed to laugh."

"…Haha."

"Sarcasm? I'm hurt."

"I apologize; I have a Restore Materia if you require it."

"Smart ass."

Aerith laughed softly, "Play nice, children."

"Yes, mother," the ninja said mockingly.

The gunslinger opened his mouth to say something, but noticed movement from the corner of his eye. Turk training took over immediately; in the blink of an eye he had swung around, gun outstretched. Before him stood what appeared to be a giant grasshopper. _Bang!_ The shot rang through the otherwise silent mountains. The beast let out a shrill screech of pain, similar to that of a bat.

Aerith and Yuffie blinked in surprise before they finally realized what had happened. The two rushed over to help as they exchanged another glance accompanied by a grin. "Nice going, Vince! That woulda totally got us!" said the ninja while she moved to his left, deadly shruiken glinting.

Vincent nodded, but kept his eyes on the monster. Once more, he aimed and shot the beast, as Yuffie grinned ferally and threw her shruiken. Surprised, the gunslinger was forced to admit, despite her childlike attitude she had some skill with the large weapon, which had made a perfect arc as it slashed the creature before returning to her waiting hand.

The monster screeched, and launched itself at Aerith with surprising force for a monster so small. She fell to the ground with a painful thud. Slowly, she stood back up, green eyes aflame with suppressed rage. Rage that could mean only one thing: The Cetra had reached her Limit Break. "Seal Evil!"

Purple bolts of light shot at the beast, followed by two flashes of pure white light. After that, the creature did not move, Aerith had stopped its time. Vincent shot the immobile monster, and it fell to the ground, green blood pooling around its fallen form. The ninja skipped over to the body and inspected the kill. "Nice job!" she said brightly.

"We have to call Cloud. I'll loot the body, you call, ok?" squealed Aerith, all rage from her Limit Break evaporated.

"Gotcha." Yuffie pulled out her PHS and dialed Cloud's number, "Yo, Cloud?" she paused, "Yeah, Vincent's fine and totally bad ass with a gun too. He's ready for initiation!" there was another pause, "Yep, Aerith agrees too, so we'll have the initiation as soon as we get a rest period then we'll do it, ne?" Cloud said something back, before she replied, "Sounds good, see ya at Rocket Town." Yuffie closed the phone and shoved it back into the pocket of her unbuttoned khaki shorts, "Done."

"Great, let's head out," said Aerith pointing down the path with a curious look.

The journey through the mountains was difficult to travel, and full of monsters, mainly groups of the monsters who looked like grasshoppers. Eventually, they reached an old metal building that looked like it might have been a reactor until they got inside. Inside, there were slimy green tubes that connected the upper level to the lower level. There were four exits from the building. One that lead back to Nibelheim, one that lead out, which looked to lead towards Rocket Town, a door that they could not tell where it lead, and a path that seemed to lead deeper into the mountains. Yuffie frowned. "Which way?"

"Well…" Vincent looked at the door, "It seems to be impassible from this side… So the only way we could go to see the Reactor, as Cloud wishes us to, is by going on the path to the left…"

Yuffie looked at it, and sighed. "Does this mean that we have to go through the really gross looking tubes?"

"Yeah, I think so…" Aerith made a face. "Darn, I was kind of hoping I'd win the bet with Tifa that I could go one day without messing up my dress with more than blood…"

"Ewww… It's so gross! Do we hafta?" whined the ninja in a last ditch effort to escape the slime.

"Yes, we do," affirmed the gunslinger, "Let us go."

Eyes shut in anticipation; Yuffie plugged her nose, and slid down a tube, filth gathering quickly on her scrawny form. "Ewww! Gross-ness!" she shrieked as she tumbled from the tube with disgusted look at her grime covered self.

"This is so nasty," said Aerith holding up the hem of her now green stained dress, "Slime is disgusting…"

Vincent shot out of the tube and cast a distasteful look at himself, but turned towards the left exit of the building, swiftly followed by the two girls. The exit lead to another path, this one curving around the mountain in a close embrace. Carefully, the small group walked on the path, each knowing that one misstep could cause the death of them should they fall off. The path was treacherous and once more filled with monsters but soon they came to an old, falling apart hunk of metal that appeared to have been a Mako Reactor once upon a time. "This is it…" Aerith's hushed tone broke the eerie silence that hung around the forgotten place, "Let's go take a look…"

The old rusted metal groaned its protest as they went up the ramp into the reactor. Dust and cobwebs covered the inside of the unused Shinra legacy, said dust flew up as they went into a room full of pods attached to tubes at the bottom of the floor, and a large door at the top of some stairs with a sign over it that said in big, bold letters, JENOVA. Vincent froze, face paler than usual. "Jenova…" he murmured, his ruby eyes became glassy as thoughts of a beautiful woman perched on the brink of disaster filled his newly awoken mind.

"The door's locked," the Cetra's voice broke the man's nostalgic thoughts. "I wonder if I could force it open…"

Foot braced on the wall, fingers dug in the seal of the door, she attempted to pry the door open to see the infamous room where Jenova had once been locked. No such luck. The door remained closed.

"Eek!"

Aerith and Vincent whirled around to see Yuffie's face contorted in horror as she stared at something through the window of one of the man-sized pods. "Yuff?" Aerith asked soft boots stirring the dust more as she walked over and put a hand on the ninja's shoulder. She looked into the window, and blanched. "…Oh no…"

"Ah!" Yuffie scrambled away from the pod, and Vincent came over and peered into it.

A horrible monster stared back at him. Tentacles covered its head, and its skin was a horrible dark grey color. Vicious purple eyes glowed as they studied him, and the thing's thin lips were chapped and grey like the rest of its skin. However, despite all that, he knew the thing had once been human. Before Hojo, there was no mistaking the lunatic's work. His eyes closed for a split second. "Wha… what was that?" Yuffie choked out.

"An experiment…" said the Cetra and the gunslinger together.

"That's awful! Those things were… human? That's so wrong… l-let's get out of here!"

Nodding, Aerith said softly, "Yeah… let's go…"

A hasty retreat was made from the Reactor, and they were about to go back to the path that wrapped around the mountain, the way they had come, when Yuffie said, "What's that?"

The two turned and saw a previously overlooked door in the mountain. "We should go that way," said Vincent as he strode over to the door without waiting to see if they would follow. The mark of a true leader was knowing that their orders would be carried out without having to double check.

Yuffie and Aerith both darted after the caped man and into the mountain. Next thing they knew, they were back at the place with the slimy tubes. Almost back where they had started. Yuffie began to laugh, "We just spent like three hours hacking through crap, when we coulda been done in like…" she paused for a second, "Ten minutes, as long as we only got attacked three times… But then again, we wouldn't have gone very far, so the chances we would have been attacked more than three times are less than a one in ten chance without an Enemy-Lure materia."

Giggles flew wildly for Aerith's mouth while she said, "Well… that which doesn't kill us, can only make us stronger, right?"

The gunslinger nodded. "Gross-ness," the ninja whined, "Do we hafta go down the icky tubes again?"

Sadly, the Cetra nodded, "Yep…"

With a resigned sigh, the ninja sat in one of the ancient tubes and slid down, the grime once more coating her lithe form. At the bottom, she gave a joyful whoop, "Materia! I found materia! It's an Enemy-All Materia… The probability of finding it is only about… 5 in a hundred..." lovingly, she wiped the slime off the small blue orb, "Don't worry, you'll be nice and happy equipped in my shruiken… Hmm… what to connect you to… I know! My Fire Materia!"

"That's great," said Aerith as her gentle hands wiped flecks of grime from her bright dress.

A second later, Vincent was down the tube as well. "What is that?" his glowing eyes locked on something over their shoulders.

Both of them turned, and saw what appeared to be a giant, blue spider blocking the path to Rocket Town. "It's the Materia Keeper…" the Cetra whispered, "It's said to block the paths of Sinners…" green eyes directed on the monster, she failed to notice both Yuffie and Vincent flinch.

"Do you think it has materia?" asked Yuffie after an awkward pause.

"Perhaps," replied the gunslinger.

Before anyone could stop her, she had whipped out her shruiken and attacked. The thing shrieked as the sharp blades of the whizzing shuriken slashed one of its long, thin legs with a smack. Exchanging a brief glance, Vincent and Aerith darted over to Yuffie and fell into battle formation. The Cetra closed her eyes as she prepared to cast Earth 2, Vincent shot at the beast with the precise aim of a man who had used a gun many a time, while Yuffie continued attacking with a combination of her Fire Materia, and her deadly shruiken. The Materia Keeper mainly attacked using its legs, but would occasionally do a long chain of fire attacks that hurt – a _lot_. Nevertheless, overall, everything was fine until it cast Trine; a deadly lighting attack that caused some serious pain. Aerith immediately fell unconscious, and Yuffie collapsed to one knee. Vincent watched as her face changed from pain to fury in a split second. "Greased Lightning!" she threw herself at the Keeper slashing at it violently with her shruiken. With a scream, it fell and the Materia Keeper was no more.

Quickly, they ran over to the crumpled form of the Cetra. Voice trembling, Yuffie asked, "Aerith?" there was no response, "C'mon… wake up… Please? You hafta! We're out of Phoenix Downs…" ragged breathing was the only sound that came from the unconscious woman, "Shit… Cloud's gonna _kill_ me…"

"Yuffie…" Vincent tried to interrupt.

"He told me to 'protect Aerith blah blah blah…' I am gonna _die_."

"…Yuffie…"

"He'll probably take his sword and chop out my spleen…"

"…Ms. Gast…"

"And then make me _eat_ it… Gross-ness! Vince, I don't _wanna_ eat my spleen!"

"…Materia."

"What, where?"

"I… have a Revive Materia. I can resurrect her. And I highly doubt he would chop out your spleen…"

"Wow… that was like a record… Three sentences…. And a Revive Materia? Cool-ness! You're like… totally my hero! I can keep my spleen!" she launched herself at the gunslinger and gave him a hug.

Vincent stiffened, taking a step back. The little ninja let go quickly and cleared her throat, "So, you gonna heal her or what?"

"_Revive 1_."

Aerith sat up groggily, "The Planet's screaming," her eyes gazed at them vacantly, "But still, the Promised Land beckons her Children…"

The ninja blinked, "Uh, Aerith?"

"Yuffie… your mother awaits you…"

"_Restore 2_." The sparkle of Vincent's healing magic hid the horrified look on Yuffie's face, and completely healed Aerith.

She sat up with clear eyes and smiled, "Sorry, sometimes after I pass out, I talk about the Planet…"

"Yeah," the ninja said dryly, face blank, "we noticed."

"We should get going to Rocket Town before Cloud gets mad… Time is money after all… Speaking of money, Vincent, did you ever get your wallet back?"

Eyes wide, the ninja asked, "You lost your wallet, Vince?"

"Please give it back, Yuffie…" sighed the gunslinger.

"What? But I didn't… How could you? I wouldn't–! Gawd, you're so… Hey! Aerith, get out of my pockets! How did that get there?" Yuffie looked at the wallet in the other woman's hand perplexed, "Is that yours, Vincent?"

"…Yes…"

"Wonder how it got there…" she laughed nervously.

He shook his head, and took his wallet back with a sigh.

"Let's mosey… We have to hurry to Rocket Town to get stuff for Vincent's initiation, after all!" Aerith laughed, and carefully stepping over the Materia Keeper's body, they continued on their way.


	3. Chapter 3

Promised Hell

Chapter Three

Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the plot.

Author's Note: So far, this is my favorite chapter. I had a lot of fun writing it, and I think it reflects that. In any case, once again, I thank my friends for putting up with me, and Star Anise for beta-ing. Read, and review. Seriously, it makes my day.

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Smoke drifted lazily into the azure sky where it mingled with the sparse clouds that hovered miles above the town. Not much of a town, really. A few small, brown dwellings that seemed designed to draw the focus of an idle passerby to the right side of the town. That was where the town stopped being any old town north of Nibelheim. A large moldy Rocket stood there, silently guarding the town from all those who wished it ill. A silent memoir to an age long passed. Back when it had been a Shinra research site and the launch site of the Shinra Rocket. However, those days were gone. Now the Rocket only stood as a memento to lost dreams and a forgotten hope. The final product of the Shinra Space Program.

"This is Rocket Town?" the Cetra's wide, round eyes stared at the rusted chunk of metal in wonder.

The ninja laughed, as she gazed at the town herself, "Yep, it's a pretty cool place!"

"You've been here?" Tifa turned to her, delicate eyebrow arched.

In all actuality, her eyebrows were one of the few things about the martial artist that could be considered 'delicate'; from her head, to her feet, she was a finely tuned weapon, as she had been trained to be as a girl. "Yep," Yuffie shrugged, bulky armguard moving with her motion in a well-oiled manner. Messy armor equaled an even messier death, it was said, and the teenager did not want to see if that was true. "I stayed here for a bit before I headed to Nibelheim." A quick hand pointed in the direction of the fearsome mountains they had just come from only a day before.

"You've been many places for a girl your age," remarked the dark-haired gunslinger.

"Don't listen to her, damn punk's the biggest liar I ever met," said Barret, shooting a dark glare at the girl in question, HIS eyes still making it clear that he did not trust her.

"Oh yeah?" she rose to the challenge easily. "Say that again and I'll shove my shruiken up your–" in a fluid motion, the ninja pulled out her overly large weapon but Cloud cut her off.

"Yuffie, Barret; _enough_." Everyone paused – they _knew_ what was coming next… "Let's mosey."

No longer held back by minor squabbles, AVALANCHE was able to finally walk into the small town where their objective may have been. Sephiroth… the man who had done so many wrongs. Residents turned to watch the obvious outsiders distrustfully, wondering if maybe, against all odds, they were from Shinra here to say that they were funding the Space Program again. The Ex-SOLIDER cleared his throat, "Aerith and Barret, with me. Yuffie and Vincent, you're a team. Tifa, Cait Sith, and Nanaki, you're a team. Let's–"

"Why am I always stuck with Mr. Tall-Pale-And-Scary?" whined Yuffie, arms crossed.

Many blinks followed her question, this was perhaps the first time anyone had interrupted Cloud mid-mosey. "Oh, Yuffie," wine colored eyes glinting with mischief, Tifa sighed, "We need to get his initiation ready," her strong, gloved hands gestured at herself, the robot, and the red feline, "And since you know the town, we figured you'd like to show him around."

"…I do not require…" the gunslinger began, only to be interrupted by the ninja.

"Ok! Cool! Let's go to the materia shop first!" her calloused hand enclosed over his human arm and she dragged him off.

Aerith squealed when they got out of earshot, "They're so cute!"

Her friend nodded in agreement, "Yeah!"

"I hear wedding bells," said Cait Sith, dancing for joy on his oversized moogle, "It's adorable."

The 'adorable' pair walked into the small materia shop; and immediately, the shopkeeper glared. "Get out of my shop, demon!" Vincent froze, ruby eyes wide. "Thief! I thought we ran you out of town!"

Yuffie stopped, frowning. "Oh, come on, that was like forever ago…"

"You stole 4,000 gil worth of materia!" the man spat.

"I didn't know any better!"

"Yuffie, perhaps you should pay the man back," Vincent glanced at the now red-faced ninja.

"I don't have that kind of gil! How would a girl my age get that much gil?"

"…Yuffie…"

"I'm no princess or anything! I only stole the materia because…" her stormy grey eyes filled with tears, "I didn't have any money for food, and I thought that if I stole the materia… I could get money so I could eat…"

"Well," the man's face softened, "Fine, but don't let me catch you stealing any more! Folks are nice around here; they'll help if you ask…"

Yuffie smiled brightly, silent tears sliding down her cheeks, "Thank you so much!"

"Yeah, yeah. Now get out of my shop!"

The ninja and the gunslinger left silently, neither so much as sparing the other a glance. When they got outside, Vincent said icily, "That was a nasty lie."

"Whatever works," she shrugged, her face turned towards the Rocket.

"I wonder how long that man went hungry for," he mused, "Simply because Yuffie Gast wanted materia?"

"He's fine, Vincent. Besides, don't think I care, 'cause I don't."

"Truly a shin– ninja."

"You got that right."

"Cruel."

Her face contorted into a frown, and her eyes snapped back into him, smoky from rage, "Lay off, Valentine, I don't need a lecture, least of all from you, Mr. Sleep-In-A-Coffin-And-Repent!"

"…Of course not, Ms. Gast." His tone was mild, and had he been anyone else, she knew the tone would have been condescending.

"I don't!"

"…All right. Let's go. No stealing."

"I'm offended, Valentine! You don't know anything about me! I'm different now; I'm not a thief… anymore."

"Liar."

"Shut up! Don't judge me!" she glared up at him, not caring that her petite height of 5'2" only brought her up to his shoulder, "Some of us aren't looking for redemption. I don't care at the moment if Leviathan damns me to Hell for stealing. I don't need some fucking vampire telling me what to do with my life!"

Vincent's eyes hardened and she swore they condemned her. "So be it, Ms. Gast."

A dark look was shot at him, as she snapped, "Come on… I'll show you the Rocket… It's kinda cool, if you like moldy, outdated chunks of metal…"

"…" one glance at his face gave her the feeling that he did not think that was such a good idea.

"Oh, come on," she huffed, "I'm not gonna steal the Rocket or anything… Please? I said I'd show ya around, and you haven't seen Rocket Town till you've seen the Rocket, get it?"

"…" He shook his head at her logic; the little ninja would be the end of him, he was sure.

"Great!" apparently taking his silence as an affirmative answer, once more she dragged him off, this time towards the long neglected legacy of the Shinra Space Program.

Despite himself, his blood coloured eyes gazed up at the still impressive Rocket, and he was so engrossed that he barely noticed the girl pulling him inside the Rocket. "What the fuck are you doing here, brat? I thought we ran you outta town fuckin' years ago!"

"Oh… come on, Grandpa! That was a long time ago, besides, ya know I loved ya too much to stay away," she protested.

"Ha! Once a thief, always a fuckin' thief. You here to take all my materia again, brat?" a man poked his head of a door on the side of the long corridor they had come to upon entering the Rocket. His hair was short and sandy blonde in colour. Bright blue eyes glared at them from behind a haze of cigarette smoke from the white drug that dangled from his mouth easily. Vincent gazed at the scruffy man, and resisted the urge to wrinkle his nose.

With a snort, Yuffie said "I'm helping to save the world, so there!" She poked her tongue out at him.

There was a pause, before Grandpa began to laugh, "Girl, only heroes could save _this_ godforsaken world, and you ain't one!"

"Maybe I am! I could be some barbarian, warrior princess of a forgotten country who was brave and noble!"

Grandpa rolled his eyes, "I can believe the barbarian bit… Look, kid, whatdya want?" He paused. "First the blonde moron, now you. What is this, fucking Annoy Cid Day?"

"Cid," – Vincent was sure this was one of the few times he had seen her grey eyes serious – "Come with us."

"Us?" the pilot scoffed, "Who's us? You and Cape-Boy?" he spat out the used cigarette and pulled another from his vest pocket.

"Partly… It's me, Cape-Boy, Blonde-Moron, Pink-Lady, One-Arm, Talking-Dog-Cat-Thing, Robo-Cat, and… uh… Big-Boobs…" The gunslinger shot the girl a glare at her description of Tifa, which she ignored.

"Wow… small army of misfits, eh?" Cid snorted, as he lit up a new cigarette. "I ain't goin'."

"What's left for you here, Grandpa?" demanded Yuffie, gesturing wildly at the sorry looking Rocket, "A rotting rocket? A nice girl you don't treat right? Why not come with us? Screw Shinra over for discontinuing the Space Program… Get outta this hellhole…"

"Shut it, brat! Watch, Palmer'll bring 'em around, and this beauty'll fly right into space!"

"As if! All _they _care about is Mako and gil! Not research that ain't profitable! Not_ your_ fucking dream!"

"You don't know shit! Get outta my town!" he grabbed a long spear from the room he had occupied before talking to the two, "Get out!"

"Gladly, Highwind! C'mon, Vince, Cloud's waiting for us! We don't want old backwater Grandpa coming with us anyway!"

She all but dragged Vincent down the stairs and out of the Rocket. "A friend of yours, I presume?" his voice stopped her in her tracks.

"No!"

"Ah, I see."

"Ya, you better!"

"Your accent is Wutain."

"What the hell? Wutain?" Yuffie looked affronted, "Are you saying my mom cheated on dad? 'Cause my parents were… well, Mom was Gongongan…" her mind whirled, that explained the black hair, and… she remembered a few people with almond shaped eyes in Kalm… "My father was Kalmian."

"…That has nothing to do with your accent."

"I travel a lot, duh! I pick up a lot of accents; I lived with a Wutain woman in Junon for a year, before Cloud and them found me…"

"… I see. Oh, and Miss Gast, for the record, Professor Gast was a Northerner, not Kalmian."

"Er…"

"And he died 22 years ago, long before he could have had a sixteen year old daughter in the making. Perhaps you should study more before you impersonate the daughter of a renowned scientist," Vincent said coldly as he walked away from the flabbergasted ninja.

Yuffie was never quite sure how long she stood there, rooted in shock. All of her plans, all of her work… was for nothing. All because of one intelligent man. Damn that Valentine! Ruining her secret… she might as well go home now. Now they would know she had been lying about her identity… and it wouldn't be hard to guess her intentions weren't in the best interest of their goal. Gloved hands clutched her head and she sank to the ground. Five years. _Five years_ and this was all the little princess could do, the Rocket seemed to mock her, All she could do was make one stupid mistake on the biggest plan of her life. Some shinobi she was. Furiously, she pounded the ground with her fist.

"_Go then, daughter. Restore your country, as is your duty. Farewell, young princess. Do not fail."_

Tears welled up in her eyes, but they stilled as a loud buzzing came from down the road. It sounded familiar…. Kind of like Cid's plane… She glanced behind her at the empty street, and saw a large pink plane with the words 'Tiny Bronco' printed on it in blue letters. The propeller picked up in speed as it slowly gained altitude. The ninja's eyes widened as she realized why it was going so slow… Eight figures were clinging to the plane. AVALANCHE and… Cid himself! "Grandpa!" she called, waving.

"Oi, brat, you comin'?"

"Uh…"

"…Grab on," Vincent's monotone voice came, as he threw a rope ladder from the plane.

Yuffie grabbed on swiftly, and she was hoisted onto the rising plane. "Vincent…? Why did you... urk!" her face turned a peculiar shade of green while she heaved over the side of the plane.

"Hey! Better not get my plane dirty!" Cid said over his shoulder, "SHIT! They're firin' at us!"

_Ping. Pang. Bang. Boom! _"SHIT!" Men in baggy outfits with hoods shot at the plane below, blowing out an engine. Acrid smoke billowed around them, as the Tiny Bronco began to lose its hard-earned altitude.

"Hold on!" called Cid from the cockpit.

The plane jolted along, getting slower and closer to the ground with each passing second. Smoke filled their lungs and, to accompany Yuffie's retching, coughs could be heard from various parts of the plane. "Shit! We're goin' down!" the pilot yelled.

They closed their eyes as they waited for impact and most likely their deaths. _Splash. _Water doused the group, for they had landed in the Eastern Sea. "Fuck! My plane!" echoed in the silence that followed their crash.

"Not much of a plane now," said Yuffie between bouts of motion sickness.

Cloud's cerulean eyes lit up. "Can we use it as a boat?"

"I guess… do whatever the fuck you want with it," snapped the pilot.

"So you're coming with us?" Tifa asked.

"Yeah, nothin' for me in that hellhole anyway…" Yuffie and Cid exchanged a smile. "So where we headed?"

"We're looking for Sephiroth," Aerith said, eyes directed at the sky.

"We should go east," said the ninja, "There's a town I know of – we can restock and shit…"

Vincent's eyes seemed to burn a hole in the back of her head as she hurled determinedly over the side. "Wutai…" he said.

"Wutai?" Cloud frowned, "I thought it was destroyed after the Shinra-Wutai War…"

Closing her eyes, she said bitterly, "It was. Now it's a tourist trap, but we can pick up items and stuff…"

Aerith smiled, "I think we should. I've always wanted to go there. It's one of the places without a Mako Reactor left… It should be beautiful…"

"All right then… let's mosey."

Yuffie was violently sick every time the group was on any sort of moving machine, but the closer the group got to Wutai, the sicker she became, until she could barely get two words in edgewise. At that point, her stomach was empty and she was dry heaving. Four tranquilizers had done little to rectify the problem, so they had to settle with leaving the girl to her misery.

She could feel the pity in their gaze when they at glanced her, after a particularly loud gag. They didn't even know anything about this! They had no right to pity her! Especially since she was about to one up them. Even though… She had yet to see Vincent's initiation. Or Grandpa's. Her eyes widened at the thought as another retch brought her back to the real world. She gazed at the people around her, before turning away. In another time and place, they could have been friends. She could have helped defeat the bastard who had destroyed her country and her mother. She could have helped save the world. But… some things were more important… She had a job to do.

Time passed quickly for the ninja and all too soon, they were on Wutain soil. Her soil. They disembarked from the Tiny Bronco, onto the beach. "Hey guys! We should stick together in one group… The monsters are _really_ tough…" Yuffie said in one breath.

The blonde raised an eyebrow, "I think we can handle it."

"No! They're like… _really_ tough!" she stood in front of him, hands on her hips, "We should really stick together."

"Hey look!" Two blue clad Shinra Soldiers ran over to where AVALANCHE stood. "It's them!"

"Are you sure?" asked the other.

"No… but attack first, ask questions later…"

The two Shinra Soldiers attacked, guns outstretched. It was a quick battle, the two Soldiers dead in practically the blink of an eye when faced with all nine ALVALANCHE members. It was only after the battle that they realized…

"My materia's gone!" everyone turned to the Cetra.

Tifa checked for her own materia, and growled. "So's mine!"

After a quick check, Cloud said, "All of our materia is gone…. And so is Yuffie."

Vincent checked his pocket one more time for his materia, and instead pulled out a note. His ruby eyes scanned the paper. His face twitched, "This is unforgivable."

"What's it say?" asked Cait Sith, trying to peer over his shoulder.

Voice monotone, he read the paper aloud,

"_Dearest Morons,_

_You've just been beaten by Yuffie __**Kisaragi**__. If you know what's best for you, you'll turn back now. I wasn't kidding when I said the monsters were tough. And without __**my **__materia, they'll eat you alive. Good bye, suckers!_

_Tootles, _

_Yuffie Kisaragi_"

"So what will we do?" Nanaki looked at them all, noting that everyone's expressions ran from fury, to disappointment, to betrayal.

"We go after the brat and get our shit back!" snarled Cid. "She's stolen from me for the last fuckin' time!"

The group left, following the way Yuffie had run off. Vincent looked up at the sky. _Kisaragi_… Where had he heard that name before?


	4. Chapter 4

Promised Hell

Promised Hell

Chapter Four

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognize. The quotes from the game came from RP Gamer's Complete Final Fantasy VII script.

Author's Notes: Ok… this is a really long chapter, I know. But it's hugely important, and actually, I'm really happy with how it turned out. Chapter 5 won't be up for a while, I'm going camping, so I can't take my computer… Thanks to everyone who had to put up with me ranting about this chapter for a week or two, and to Star Anise who took the time to beta it twice! So enjoy!

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Slanted grey eyes surveyed the violet and crimson sky. Sunset. Yuffie Kisaragi shouldered her large shruiken on her perch atop the Da Chao Mountains. Carved from the largest mountains in Wutai, the Da Chao Mountains were sculpted in the likeness of the Five Faced Deity of Honour long ago. It was said that it had been carved facing the capital to keep the Emperor's honour in check, and thus protect Wutai from corruption. It was even said the Leviathan flitted upon the Hands of Da Chao from time to time, to keep them Holy. Though Da Chao had five faces; each a different aspect of Honour (Justice, Nobility, Truth, Equality, and Wisdom) and each was equally important; while only two hands were significant; larger than the rest of the hands, they were the ninja's focal point. The hand on the left was the Traitor Hand, where traitors were tried and punished. And the right hand, the Honour Hand, was where heroes were rewarded. Sorrowful eyes turned from the Hands to the Faces, and each condemned her.

"I had to!" she screamed. "I had to! Wutai needs it!"

The disappointed eyes stared after her as she fled back to her town.

"I don't understand why we're looking for him here," a woman in a crisp blue suit complained to the two other people at her table, both in the same blue suits as herself, though the redhead's suit was crumpled, and his tie was undone.

"Elena," he sighed, "don't misunderstand. We took this mission to relax in Wutai. This Corneo guy'll show up. Now shut up and drink something."

"I don't drink," she said, narrowed brown eyes glancing disdainfully at the substance in her co-worker's glass.

Aquamarine eyes wide in disbelief, Reno gasped, "A Turk who doesn't drink?! There hasn't been one of those since Valentine!"

Dragging a pale hand through her professionally layered blonde hair, Elena asked, "Who, Reno?"

"Vincent Valentine, Leader of the Turks thirty years ago, before he disappeared. He didn't drink either. But seriously, rookie, drinking is a Turk thing; even your precious Tseng does it."

"I don't drink."

"C'mon, rookie. Just one?"

"Reno, for the last time, I don't drink!"

"…Reno, leave her alone," said the man on the left of Reno. Elena was sure if she could have seen his eyes under the sunglasses, he would have looked as annoyed as she felt.

"Thanks, Rude." she smiled at her saviour.

Rude nodded, bald head reflecting in the sunlight that streamed in from the open door.

Elena sighed. "So if we're not actually here to do work, why did were take the mission?"

"To get a vacation and rest! How many times do I hafta spell it out for you – We don't _care_ about Corneo!"

"If you say so." She looked away and examined the bar they were at.

Overall, it was a nice bar. Sturdy wooden chairs and tables littered the room at regular intervals, it was clean, and the glasses were crystal clear. That alone made it better than half the bars in Midgar. Voices rang from outside the bar, familiar voices. The woman looked up quickly as three people walked into the bar. One was a blonde man with a sword, another was a woman with long brown hair pulled into a long braid and topped with a pink ribbon, and the last was a man with long black hair in a red cape that matched his forlorn eyes.

"You!" Elena hopped to her feet. "What are you doing here? …Never mind that. There's a warrant for the arrest or death of AVALANCHE, so I guess it was fate that brought us together." She pulled a shotgun out from a hidden pocket in her suit.

Eyes warily regarding the female Turk, AVALANCHE pulled out their own weapons, easing into a battle formation.

"Elena… you talk too much," Reno sighed.

"What?" She turned to him, aghast.

"What are we doing out here in the middle of nowhere?" he asked, as Cloud and Aerith exchanged a confused glance.

His co-worker flushed while she scratched the back of her head sheepishly. "We're… um… taking our vacation and resting up from our work…?"

Vincent scowled behind his cape. Turks didn't _have_ vacation, unless critically wounded, spying, or lying about taking a mission. In his professional opinion, it appeared to be the latter.

Reno broke Vincent's nostalgic thoughts by snapping; "Now our vacation's ruined!" he shot an accusatory glance at Elena.

Head bowed, she muttered, "Sorry," and sat back down between Reno and Rude.

The bald Turk shook his head, Reno and Elena overreacted to _everything_.Being a babysitter for those two was another full time occupation on some days. Sunglass-covered eyes darted to his drink, his hand twitched ever so slightly. Reno's aquamarine eyes watched this before he said, "Drink, Rude!" There was a pause as they both raised their drinks to their lips, "How long have we been partners?" There was another pause as they took another sip; Reno continued seriously. "There have been hard times being a Turk, but all in all, I'm glad I did it." He turned to Cloud. "I even got to meet a buncha wing nuts like you!"

Lips pursed, Elena muttered, "You're lucky, all right. Now get out of my sight – next time we meet I won't be so nice!"

Vincent eyed her briefly; the only female and she seemed to be a better Turk than those two combined. As AVALANCHE turned to leave, Rude said drunkenly "To the Turks… To Reno… Cheers!"

Sunlight beat upon their heads as they left the tavern, entering the small town once again. Wutai was comprised of small buildings, each with a definite Oriental feel, and a river flowed through the town; small wooden bridges connecting the street where the river cut through it. An old woman walked down the street, so frail it looked like a slight puff of air would knock her flat on her face. The blue kimono she wore rustled as she tottered over to them. Her brown eyes looked at them kindly. "Hello, dears" Her accent rang slightly Wutain. "Are you lost?"

"No… we're looking for a girl named Yuffie Kisaragi, have you seen her?" Cloud asked.

"Yuffie…" She frowned. "Yuffie… yes… that dear girl, she used to play with my grandson, before…" The withered face crumpled. "...He disappeared. But those two were almost inseparable, before the War… But I have not seen Yuffie since she ran off years ago. Lord Godo informed us that she had died… so I have been taking care of her cats. She was such a sweet girl… Such a pity… Bad things always happen to good girls like her." She smiled at them again "Is she back? Is she alive?"

Vincent nodded respectfully. "Yes, she is alive and well. But she has taken something that belongs to us."

"Well, have you tried looking for her in the Materia Shop? They know _everything_ there," She pointed at a shop across a bridge. "I thank you for bringing me word of the little princess, you have brought an old woman happiness. Leviathan willing, she will turn up." She bowed and continued on her way.

Three sets of eyes watched as she left, and finally Aerith asked, "…Princess?"

"…Kisaragi… of course… I should have recognized it. They have been the ruling family for as long as anyone can remember…" said the gunslinger.

"Yuffie's a princess of Wutai? That's… different…" Cloud said.

"_The name's Kisaragi –! I'm the –White Rose of –. I'm – shinobi! Fear me, –!"_

The man shook his head, the voice disappearing from his mind. "I've met her before. When I was on a SOLIDER mission in Wutai…"

"…In Wutai? You were First Class, right Cloud?" Aerith asked, brows furrowed.

"Yeah… that's right…"

Vincent sighed, "Is this truly the place to figure this out?"

"No… let's go" said Cloud with a frown.

Carefully, they walked over the bridge, and into the shop. Paintings of the shiny orbs that granted the user magic, summons, or special abilities lined the walls, and three women stood behind the counter. Aerith immediately felt out of place among these kimono clad, heavily made up, black haired, slanted eyed, gossipy women, who observed them, whispering in a foreign language.

"We're looking for a girl… Yuffie Kisaragi, have you seen her?" asked the ex-SOLDIER, his voice resounding loudly in the shop.

The oldest of the three women, a grave woman with her black hair piled into a bun on the top of her head clacked her tongue disapprovingly before saying, in heavily accented Midgarian, "You want something? Want materia? Pay first; no steal. No gil? Leave!" She waved her arms at them, scowling deeply.

"No." He shook his head. "I don't need to buy materia… I need to find Yuffie Kisaragi…"

A younger woman stepped out from behind the counter, her black hair also in a bun, oval face regarding them shrewdly, as she told them in her lightly accented voice "Kisaragi Yuffie? If she doesn't want to be found, you won't find her. Leviathan protects his children. You buy materia?"

"No! I don't need to buy materia! That thief has stolen my materia!" Cloud's patience had just about reached its limit.

"Thief?" the young woman paused, and then a smile creased her pretty face. "Kisaragi Yuffie is no thief. She is shinobi; do not forget. Kisaragi family is long line of shinobi. Some of the last. Now leave, before I get father out here!" She shooed Cloud and Vincent out.

A glint of something in the corner caught the Cetra's attention, and she turned to see a chest in the corner of the shop. Automatically, her delicate hands opened the chest, which creaked in protest as she did so. At the bottom sat a glowing blue orb. Just as her hand enclosed over the MP Absorb Materia, there was a thud from behind her, and a familiar voice shouted. "No way! That's mine!"

The materia was snatched roughly from Aerith by a gloved hand, before the figure dashed past them all in a green and khaki blur. "Yuffie!" However, the ninja had once again given them the slip.

Yuffie cackled, with a glance over her shoulder at the angry group of people. "Now… let's go see Godo…"

Large backpack of materia in place, she slipped in through a window of a large house in the edge of the town, next to a large five-storied tower, which the ninja looked at wistfully for a moment. Orange sneakered feet landed with an almost nonexistent thud on the wooden floor of a bedroom. "Who's there?" asked a sharp voice.

Yuffie turned around swiftly, to face the speaker. "Godo?"

"…Yuffie?" Wide grey eyes, so like Yuffie's, regarded her. "It's been five years… So you've given up on your quest, and come home then?" He frowned, and turned away from her, his hand stroking the white obi of his blue kimono thoughtfully.

"What?" yelped Yuffie. "Never! I brought back the materia, just like I said I would!"

"Really?" He did not sound convinced, but his eyes lit up briefly, before they hardened again as she dumped the materia onto a nearby futon. Bleakly, he looked at it while she shot him a grin. "How much materia is that?" he asked.

"One hundred and twelve pieces." What she did not mention was that 42 of that materia had come from people who had almost been her friends, people who had a 12 of saving the world before Yuffie Kisaragi came in, and reduced it to measly 1.01 chance of saving the world. Her face fell, as guilt overcame her suddenly, and she scowled. She had felt guilty for very few things in her life… Not that it mattered. This was more important. Wutai was more important that AVALANCHE.

Godo interrupted her thoughts, "You were gone for _five years_, and you only managed to get 112 pieces of Low-Level Materia?"

Eyes wide, she turned to him; for once, the ninja was speechless. A moment passed, before she demanded "What?! I worked really hard to get that materia!"

"I suppose… Well, it was too much to expect of you anyway."

"It's more than you do! How _dare_ you turn Wutai into some tourist trap! Leviathan is ashamed!" her tan face flushed dark with fury.

"Leviathan… accepts it, because this is the only way we can ensure our survival. I'm keeping Wutai alive!"

"By killing our heritage?"

"Quiet!"

"What's next, Godo? Gonna tear down Leviathan's shrines and put up shrines of Rufus Shinra?"

"Silence, you ingrate!"

"Wutai needs an Emperor, not another spineless Shinra _dog_!"

"Don't speak of what you don't understand!" shouted Godo.

"What I don't understand?" her face paled in rage. "What the hell is that supposed to mean? I understand fine! You lost a war, gave up and sold Wutai to the enemy!"

Godo's lips drew into a thin line, as he regarded Yuffie. Other than the eyes and the hands, every other part of her appearance had come from her mother. The face, the build, the hair, the smile, everything. Grey eyes narrowed, and he hissed, "And you will recall whose fault it was that we lost the war, _daughter_."

A gasp escaped her lips as she staggered backwards. If he had slapped her, he could not have hurt her – _his daughter_ – more. "I'm leaving, and I'm taking the materia with me! It may not have been your fault that we lost the war, but it _is_ your fault Wutai is a tourist trap!" Shaking hands swept the materia back into the backpack, and the young shinobi made for the door.

She reached out to open the sliding door, only to realize it was all ready opening. A soft swear escaped the ninja's lips. With an easy grace, she flipped up into the rafters, and watched silently as Cloud, Vincent, and Aerith walked into her father's house.

"Sorry to intrude," Vincent said, "But we are looking for a girl named Yuffie, have you seen her?"

"I'm afraid not. We don't have much, but you should be able to rest. Make yourselves at home." Godo gestured down the hall, where an extra bedroom was.

"Are you sure you haven't seen her?" Cloud asked, Mako infused eyes glancing swiftly around the room. "Her name's Yuffie Kisaragi."

He scowled. "I told you once, and I'll tell you again… I haven't seen anyone by that name in years. She died. Never seen you around here before… Lately I've seen a lot of Shinra soldiers around here… You wouldn't have anything to do with that, would you?" his grey eyes, which were the mirror image of Yuffie's, darted around the room. "I don't care who you are, but if you're in trouble with the Shinra, then I'm going to have to ask you to leave," He turned away from them, head bowed. "I don't want the Shinra around here looking over my shoulder."

A feral growl sounded from the rafters, and Yuffie landed on all fours in front of Godo, eyes flashing with wrath. "What's with you, you coward?"

"Yuffie!" he snapped.

She plowed on furiously. "You scared of the Shinra? Then why don't you just fall in line and obey them just like all the other countries?" She pointed at Cloud, her face falling for an instant. "These guys are the only ones who are actually fighting the Shinra!"

Aerith frowned at Cloud, and mouthed, 'What's going on?'

He pointed at Yuffie and Godo. 'Watch.'

"Shut up!" Godo spat. "What would you know about this?"

The young ninja scowled darkly at her father. "You get beaten once and that's it?" She bowed her head, asking brokenly, "What happened to the Wutai I used to know?"

Vincent frowned as he watched the spat. He had no idea when or how Wutai had fallen, but it explained a lot of Yuffie's behaviour, he supposed. What War was everyone talking about? It must have been when he was asleep… 30 years was a long time, after all. He made a mental note to ask Yuffie or Cloud later.

Face hard, Godo said, "No child is going to speak to me like that. You ought to be ashamed, the way you're carrying on!"

Small fists clenched, she snapped, "That's my style, old man! And it's my business what I do, so don't try and dictate what I should do with my life!"

"Style? Dictate? Throwin' around those fancy words… You're a miserable daughter!"

His daughter snorted, "Hmph, and you're a sad excuse for a father. You told everyone I died? I sent you a letter twice a year, Godo."

"It was better than telling them that you were off on a fool quest for materia!"

"Only because you were too cowardly to fix Wutai, and too proud to listen to me! Even then, I knew this was a bad idea. They would have been proud; at least I was doing something!" she growled.

Yuffie seemed to have completely forgotten that AVALANCHE was watching her fight with her father, and the fact they were looking for her because she had stolen their materia. All that mattered was Wutai, and getting her father to understand.

"Proud? That you stole 112 Low-Level Materia? Maybe you think you'd be helping Wutai, but Da Chao would disagree, it isn't honourable to steal… You have so much to learn, daughter."

"Maybe if you had been around more often, I would have learned. No, instead you sent me away, to get experience in the real world. What father in his right mind sends his eleven-year daughter out into the world alone? What was I gonna do, run around, and do nothing? Of course I would start collecting materia. After all, you practically kicked me out of the house! You're a terrible father, Godo, face it. Maybe you think what you're doing is for the best, but you're not saving Wutai, not when some kids speak Midgarian better than Wutain, when they know more about how to attract tourists than they do about the Shinobi Code of Conduct!"

"The time for fighting is over, Yuffie. Over. We lost. Accept it," his words were flung at her, stinging like darts. "Wutai has reached a turning point. Don't lecture me for it; the day we fight back is the day that the Shinra will kill us all."

"Fine! You know what, stay here; I'm gonna do something. Wutai will not be another Junon or Corel. Oh, wait. You haven't seen them, have you? Shinra destroyed Corel because a Reactor caught fire, it was an accident, but Shinra didn't care. They burned the town. Junon? Yeah, Shinra built a military base over it, killing all the fish with the pollution, blocking off the sunlight, so they can't grow crops. Half of them are starving." Eyes glinting darkly, she continued. "What do you think they'll do to us? The country that lost the War? If we're lucky, we end up like Costa del Sol, just a tourist trap who has to send money to Shinra. Somehow, I doubt it. Probably make us all work in a Reactor or four. We have fertile land, Godo, perfect to get Mako."

"Shut up, Yuffie." His eyes closed. "Just _shut up_."

"And when they drill for the Mako, it'll kill Wutai. Did you know that Mako comes from the Lifestream, which fuels the Planet? We drill it out, and make it into energy, and we're screwed. The Planet dies. Shinra is never gonna stop, Godo! Never, not until someone does something. We have the people, Godo. We just need to train them!"

"Get out!" Godo yelled. "Get out. Don't come in here and yap at me about the Planet and War. We tried to fight; we lost. Get out of here. You would sell us all to get back at Shinra. Get out; leave. We can't afford to fight Shinra – we have lost too many people to this feud already."

"Fine, Godo. Fine, but… don't say I didn't warn you." She turned on her heel and jumped out the window, runing back into the main town.

Silence followed her departure; then Godo turned to AVALANCHE and whispered, "…Take your things and get out of here. To protect Wutai, we cannot stand up to the Shinra."

Still speechless from the fight, Cloud nodded, and lead them out. Once they were back in the street, Aerith put her hands on her hips. "He's an awful father! Saying all that to Yuffie!"

"Don't forget she stole our materia," the ex-SOLDIER reminded her.

They wandered the small town, searching for the young thief. "She stole it for a good cause," said Aerith softly. "For Wutai."

"It does not matter. She still stole the materia, no matter what it was for," sighed Vincent.

"Hey! You can't just barge into my house like that!" a voice came from the other side of town.

The three exchanged a glance, and ran off in the direction of the voice. They saw an old man sitting in a rocking chair. "More weirdoes? What is the world coming to?" he asked in slightly accented voice.

"Did a small black haired girl come by?" asked Aerith.

"Yep, hid in my house… Why? She a friend of yours?"

"Kind of, but thank you, sir!" Aerith pulled Vincent and Cloud into the house.

The house itself was nothing special, a low wooden table surrounded by large silk cushions, a couple of sliding doors that lead deeper into the house, and a screen in the corner of the room. Cloud brought a finger to his lips, and snuck over to the screen. In a quick motion, he pulled it back to reveal the crouching Yuffie. Before anyone could catch her, however, she was out the door and gone.

"Damnit," he swore.

Calmly, the gunslinger said "She cannot have gone far, we can still find her."

They went back into the street, once more looking for a sign of the vanished ninja. Vincent's enhanced eyes fell on a large, plain vase that stood outside of the bar. As he watched, the vase wobbled softly, drawing the attention of his two companions. After they exchanged a glance, and nodded. Aerith and Vincent moved to one of the two bridges that would allow her to escape, blocking them, while Cloud walked over to the vase. His strong hand tapped the vase gently. Yuffie sprung out of the pot, the backpack was gone, and ran for the bridge, only to be blocked by Aerith. With a gasp, she sprinted to the other bridge. Vincent blocked her path; there was no escape. The ninja spun, wildly, she had to get out of here… Cloud said "You can't get away, Yuffie."

She paused, hanging her head in defeat. "Ok… I know I was wrong. I hid the materia in a safe place... So Godo couldn't…" Her voice trailed off, and she lead them to a house in the corner of the town.

As soon as the four of them had left, two Shinra soldiers ran into the tavern where the Turks still sat. Reno and Rude were still drinking, and did not seem to notice the two new arrivals. Their female co-worker did, however. She leapt up. "Well?"

"We found him! We know you're uh… _off-duty_… but please back us up!" the soldier on the left panted.

"What a drag." Reno took another sip.

"What?" The soldier looked horrified.

"We're on vacation; we can't save your asses."

"But–"

"Lookin' at you is makin' me sober; go away!" snapped the redhead.

"Fine! We'll get him without your help!" they ran to the door, and he called over his blue-clad shoulder, "And don't think headquarters won't hear about this!" The two left.

Brown eyes troubled, Elena asked, "Reno… was that such a great idea? Is that how a professional Turk would act?"

Ceramic cup at his lips, Reno paused and set it down, eyeing her sharply. "Don't misunderstand, Elena. A pro isn't someone who sacrifices himself for his job. That's just a fool."

Rude's frown grew, as he regarded his teammates; this couldn't be good. She stood up. "Well, I don't buy that! I hacked Corneo's file – he's a slimy toad, but he's clever. They'll never take him! Goodbye!" She ran out of the bar, her pale face a mask of determination.

"…Hacked?" Rude raised an eyebrow.

"Some girl, that Elena. Not a great Turk… She's too soft. But damn, give her a bomb, or a computer and she's almost one…" Reno paused. "She ain't too bad lookin' either…"

Rude shot him a glance. "I'm worried."

"Relax, she's not a child."

"She's noble. Still, Reno. It's been three months. She's too soft."

"Yeah… I know. Why they hired _her_, I'll never know. But don't freak, she'll be fine. Have another drink, Rude."

The remaining Turks continued drinking, heads bowed. They did not want to see the sadness and the worry in the other's face. They both knew. The first truth of being a Turk was that a noble Turk was a dead one.

"The materia is in here." Yuffie lead Cloud, Aerith, and Vincent through the long hallway of the house.

Dust covered the floor, and the air smelt stale, as if no one had been in this house for many years. "This is my house… I'd offer you stuff to eat… but it's probably all bad anyway. Here we are!"

They had reached the end of the corridor. It was a dead end. "Yuffie, this isn't…" Cloud frowned.

Her hand reached out and pushed a panel on the wall, the wood creaked in protest, but rose up revealing a passage. "This way."

Silently, they followed. Soon the wooden passage became stone, became stone steps, and then they were in a large stone room. Statues lined the room; some were gold, some were silver, some were wood, and some were stone. Many of the statues were of a big serpent, Leviathan, the God of Creation, the rest were of Da Chao, the five-faced deity of Honor. Except for one. In the front of the room stood a stone statue in the likeness of an ordinary man. Judging from his stance, and face, he appeared to be some ancestor of Yuffie. His carefree smile shone through the small ninja. The only other thing in the room was a monitor with two levers with the word '_OFF_' displayed on the screen.

Staring at the statue of the man, Yuffie said softly, "…Ever since the War, it's been like this. Before the War, Wutai was prosperous… more important. Godo was… happy, we didn't fight. We honored Da Chao, Leviathan, and out ancestors truly. Not just as a gimmick to pull in tourists. _A mini Da Chao Statue! Rub his belly and it's good luck!_" Her grey eyes were distant. "After the War, we gained peace, but lost something else. That's why… I thought if I got materia… Then I could… You saw Wutai._ Just_ a tourist town… Not a country! Not my home." She turned her back on them, head bowed. "I thought I could save it. Make it better."

Cloud shook his head.

"_I'm gonna rule Wutai someday! I'll be Yuffie Kisaragi, Empress of Wutai, the bestest place ever, Za–!"_

"Yuffie, I don't care about the history of Wutai, or your feelings. Give us back the materia, and we'll forget that this ever happened."

The gunslinger met Yuffie's sad eyes, and she looked away. "I know," she murmured softly. "Pull the left lever, it'll release the materia."

The ex-SOLIDER nodded, "Thanks." He walked over to the levers and pulled the left one.

_Creak!_ The monitor screen displayed the word '_ON_.' _CLANG!_ A large metal cage fell over Vincent and Aerith, effectively trapping them within the basement. The ninja snickered. "Never trust anyone that easily; especially a shinobi! The materia's mine. Tough." She ran up the stairs, throwing a look over her shoulder to gaze at their furious countenances. "You want the materia back; you've got to steal it. Get it? _Steal_?" she laughed softly, waving to them as she left.

"Damnit!" spat Cloud, Mako eyes glinting in fury and betrayed trust; he pulled the lever again, the monitor showing '_OFF_' and the cage lifted up once more. "After she spilled all the bullshit!"

Aerith shook her head. "I don't think it was bullshit. She loves her country enough to steal for it… I don't think she was lying about why she stole the materia."

His golden claw – the claw that had replaced his left arm – clenched as Vincent said "It does not matter. She stole our materia, so we have to get it back."

"And… I think I know where she went… She always–"

"_This is my favorite place! Leviathan can hear me here!"_

"–liked it there," said Cloud, wide eyes staring into the distance vacantly.

The brunette next to him nodded and said softly "Let's go…"

He lead them back to the area where Godo's house was, and to a small red and green building with a picture of a large blue serpent painted on the side. Leviathan. There was also a statue of the God in the center of a small garden full of miniature trees. Next to the detailed statue was a small gong, which Cloud rang three times. _Dong. Dong. Dong. Click. _A door appeared in the wall of the building to the side of the garden.

Inside was a red-carpeted room with a large golden statue of the five-faced Da Chao. "Hey! Let go of me! OW! Jerk!" Yuffie stood in the corner of the room, surrounded by large, muscular men. "Let go!" One had grabbed her by the arm.

One of the men pulled the struggling ninja to him, knocking her unconscious with a swift blow to the head. Carelessly, he threw her over his shoulder and ran for the stairs on the other side of the room, which lead to the street above. All but one man left with him.

"…You!" Cloud pulled out his sword falling into a battle stance that had obviously been obtained through years of hard work.

"Ho…ho…ho…" the obese man giggled, his dark blonde hair, sunglasses, and pleased expression marked him as one man they had hoped never to encounter again.

"Don Corneo?"

The Don laughed manically, and said to AVALANCHE. "Finally! A new chicky! In fact… two new chickies! Hohi!"

"Two?"

"You're going to regret this! Let go of me!" Elena's voice rang from the stairs where the men had taken Yuffie.

The Don gave them a thumbs up before running up the stairs after his minions and his stolen 'chickies'. Aerith looked at Cloud. "We have to save them…"

"Yeah…." Cloud looked around and saw two unconscious Shinra Soldiers, "Yeah. Let's mosey."

They dashed up the stairs, only to see two figures in suits. The Turks, Reno and Rude. Reno looked at them, with a raised eyebrow. "They got your girl too, eh?"

"One of them," the ex-SOLDIER hung his head.

Reno frowned. "That Corneo is good at escaping... And if he has Elena, that might make things a bit difficult."

"Well… Corneo took Yuffie," replied Cloud, "And since she had our materia…"

"Don't misunderstand. We have no intention of joining you, but for now, we'll agree not to bother each other. That's all."

"That's fine. We have absolutely no intention of cooperating with the Turks either…" He paused. "So uh… which way did they go?"

The Turk nodded appreciably. "Nice attitude. You could almost be part of the company. Here's a hint: they're in the place that sticks out the most. C'mon, Rude. Let's go show 'em what the Turks can do!" The two Turks were gone in the blink of an eye.

Cloud, Aerith, and Vincent all exchanged a glance. "Are the Turks _always_ like this?" sighed the Cetra.

"Yes," replied the gunslinger dryly. "It's part of Turk Training."

"So… the place that sticks out the most…" the leader mused "...Where could that be?"

"The Da Chao Mountains," Vincent replied immediately. "You can see them anywhere in Wutai. Or rather… they can see you…"

Navigating through the town quickly, they soon came to the huge carving. They followed a beaten path that sat on the shoulders and hands of the Deity of Honor. Eyes peeled for any sign of the Don and the girls, they searched the Mountains. Aerith's wise green eyes fell on a cave. "In there, maybe?"

AVALANCHE walked in carefully, in case of an ambush, and saw that in the cave was a chest... and fire. The cave was burning with flames hotter than that of a Level-Three Fire Spell. As Cloud went over to open the chest, which revealed a spear for Cid, Vincent whispered in awe "It's the Fire Cave… It's said that the fire can only be quenched by one of Leviathan's Scales, because inside the cave is a Holy Place, that only Leviathan's Chosen may open the way to."

They doubled back, resuming their search for the kidnapped women, and eventually they came to the Right Hand; the Honour Hand. The Don stood on the worn, sacred Hand as if he owned it. As if he belonged there. On the nearest face, Yuffie and Elena were securely tied by their arms and legs to the unforgiving stone. "Let me go!" shrieked the ninja as she struggled.

"Hmm… Delicious… Scrumptious... I think I've found a new hobby!" the Don smacked his lips greedily. "Who should I choose?" Rolls of fat jiggled as he walked down the hand. "Should I choose her?" Hungry blue eyes squinted up at Yuffie.

"Oh _gawd_." She paled. "If I had known this was gonna happen, I woulda taken my rope escaping lessons more seriously!"

"Or should I go with her?" His gaze turned to Elena.

She cringed. "H-hey! You're going to regret this! I'm a Turk!"

The Don looked into the sky before he turned back to the females. "I've made my choice… I choose..." He paused for dramatic effect. "The cheerful one!"

Yuffie blanched. "Gross-_ness_! Don't mess with me, old man!"

"Ooh! And she's saucy too!" He walked towards her, while the ninja struggled violently.

"All right, that's it!" Cloud snapped. "That's enough!"

AVALANCHE ran onto the Hand, cutting of any escape for the Don. Paling even more at the sight of them, the ninja whispered to Elena "Oh man… it's Cloud… I'm _so _dead."

"At least someone came for you," the Turk shot back.

She shook her head. "They just want their materia back."

The Don cut off any more conversation. "Oh! Long time no see!"

"Have you all ready forgotten your lesson?" The Cetra put her hands on her dress-covered hips.

Vincent's glowing ruby eyes gazed up at Yuffie, unreadable as always. "I don't care what you doing, so much as the way you're doing it," he told the Don coldly.

Sweat beaded on the man's brow. "Be quiet!" his voice was little more than a squeak. "None of you know how much I suffered since then… It's a long story but…"

"Just let them go!" Aerith cut him off.

The Don frowned, his greedy eyes sweeping down her form. "Hmmm you guys are serious… Good. Why did you have to kill my little APS? Oh well… why don't you _play_ with my little RAPPS?"

A long thin dragon flew over on supple brown wings. Its cold eyes gazed at them calculatingly, cruelly. There was a split second on silence, then it shrieked and attacked with its long claws outstretched.

Aerith winced, as the sharp talons dug into her shoulder, blood staining her pink dress. Eyes wide, Cloud threw a Hi-Potion at her; pale flesh reknit itself as the healing properties of the potion surrounded her in a blue sparkle.

A soft swear escaped the ex-SOLDIER's lips. "We have to be careful; we don't have any healing materia."

Aerith nodded. "We have plenty of items though; I'm so glad that Barrett wouldn't let us sell them… Lunar Curtain!" She tossed the item into the air, and smiled as a colourful prism encased each of them, the same way a magic barrier would.

"Good idea." Cloud nodded at the Cetra and then ran forward, slashing the creature with his great sword.

Purple blood spurted from its wing as it launched itself at Vincent. A quick flash of pain creased the man's face as the talons tore the flesh of his stomach. With an easy motion, Vincent pulled out a Dragon Scale and tossed it at RAPPS. Freezing water washed over the beast, nearly knocking it from the sky. Golden bangles jingled as the Cetra tossed a Hi-Potion at the injured gunslinger, falling back into her role as healer when she was not throwing damage items at the beast. Cloud pulled out a grenade, and threw it at the monster.

Malicious eyes dark with pain, it flew at Vincent once more, this time tearing a chunk of the man's shoulder out. Blood gushed from the wound, and his ruby eyes danced with fury. Fear laced his tone as he croaked, "Get away…"

Aerith shook her head, throwing another potion at him. "Don't worry."

"No! G-get a-way! It i-is not SAFE!" Vincent sank to the ground, his face contorted in pain as it lengthened and changed. Long, curved horns grew from his head, as violet fur grew swiftly; covering him as his clothes disappeared, leaving only a massive, purple canine-like creature in their wake.

"D-demon!" Yuffie croaked, wide eyes watching what had formerly been Vincent. "He-he turned into a demon! I told you so! I told you so! He's not a vampire or a martyr, he's a _demon_!"

Aerith frowned, green eyes vacant, "The Planet says… it's known as Galian Beast… he… was the Tracker of Hell… He searched for Sinners that had escaped their punishment for too long…"

Cloud furrowed his brow, as Galian attacked RAPPS. "We can't worry about that now, we have to finish off Corneo's pet fi–" His voice was cut off as bright swirling lights surrounded him. _Aero 3_. He fell to the ground, unconscious.

Galian Beast used Beast Flare on the monster. Fire roared around the monster for a second, and then died down. Aerith looked at Cloud worriedly and pulled out a Phoenix Down. However, RAPPS had other ideas. Bright lights swirled around the woman and she fell unconscious as well.

Galian Beast and RAPPS were alone in the fight, attacking each other with bestial fury. The demon fell to his knees, and Yuffie knew… one more hit, and it was all over. "C'mon, Vince! Get him! Knock him dead!"

He looked up with large golden eyes, and rose to attack the beast one last time. RAPPS fell from the Hand with a shriek, never to be seen again. **"Valentine, come back now. Me miss you."** Galian Beast shrunk back down into Vincent. He pulled out two Phoenix Downs and tossed them at his fallen companions, who both rose. He threw them both potions, then turned to the Don.

"Wait," Corneo squeaked, "Wait just a minute!"

Glaring, Cloud snapped. "Shut up!"

He took a step back. "Just listen to me! It won't take long! Why do you think a bad guy like me would swallow his pride and plead for his life?"

"Because he's ready to die?"

"Buzz! Wrong!" The man cackled, a fat finger pressing a button on a black box in his hand. _Creeaak_. The eyes of the face which Yuffie and Elena were tied to suddenly rotated, flipping the two upside down.

"Eek!" Elena shut here eyes; heights were so _not_ her strong point.

Yuffie yelled, her face scarlet from either anger or from the blood draining to her face – no one was quire sure. "...Makes me so _mad_!"

Self-centered smirk in place, the Don continued "If I push this button again, they'll fall down and we'll have _squashed tomatoes_!"

"Damn!" Cloud swore.

Aerith scowled. "Coward!"

Vincent shook his head, musing. "So this is how a loser lives…"

"Now," the Don's eyes looked at Aerith again, "give me all of _your_ women too! I guess I'm laughing last!"

"No," said a voice from behind Cloud, Aerith, and Vincent, "that would be us." Reno walked out from behind them.

"Who's…? The Turks!" Corneo paled.

"You knew this was gonna happen ever since you leaked the secret. We're taking care of you… personally." Menacing footsteps brought him closer to the Don with each passing word.

"Damnit! Then they're going with me!" He made to press the button.

Rude, on a pass across from the Hand where they all stood, tossed a small explosive at the Don. He screamed in pain, and stumbled off the edge. A quick hand was the only thing that saved him from falling to his death. "Good timing, Rude." His partner nodded.

"…Get to work…" the bald man said.

"Right." Reno walked over to the hanging man, and slammed his booted foot onto the hand that held him up. "All right, Corneo, this'll be over quick, so listen up. Why do you think we went through all the trouble of teaming up with those guys to get you?"

"Be-because y-you were s-sure of victory?"

"Wrong," Reno said, and wiggled the foot that pinned Corner's hand to the mountain.

"No, wait!"

Reno lifted his foot off and the Don fell. A second passed, then there was a scream, a plop, and a crack. Don Corneo was no more. Smirking, Reno said "The correct answer was…" his eyes flicked to Elena for a split second, "because it's our job."

Elena sighed in relief. "Thank you so much… I didn't think…"

"Stop being so weak, Elena, you're a Turk," snapped the redhead.

She nodded. "Yes, sir!"

Reno climbed up and untied Elena and Yuffie, and they both hopped down. He jumped down after them, just as his phone rang. "Hello?" There was a pause. "Gotcha." He hung up.

"Was that the company?" asked the female Turk.

"Yep, they want us to get Cloud…"

AVALANCHE got into a fighting stance, warily eyeing the Turks. "Are we on?" asked Rude.

"Nah, we're _off_ duty; let's go." The Turks turned to leave.

Vincent called after them. "Reno; tell Tseng thanks for the information last week. Also… tell him I've resigned. He'll know who I am."

"Sure, sure." The Turks left.

"Info?" Yuffie asked with a raised eyebrow.

"On Dr. Gast. I called the new leader of the Turks." the gunslinger shrugged. "Security has gone rather lax, if someone can call claiming to be me and get information."

"So that's how you knew!" She glared at him. "How'd you know to ask?"

"I knew Dr. Gast – as I said – and I was curious as to what you knew."

"…Did it have something to do with you being a demon?" He looked away, and she laughed. "So that's why you were so stiff when we first met… You thought he had told me! Honestly, I just guessed… Leviathan _does_ say that red eyes mean–"

"I am aware," he sighed.

"You're Wutain!" Her eyes went wide. "You have to be!"

"…Yuffie." Cloud stopped her excited revelations. "The materia, so _we _can leave."

Her face fell. "Right… it's in a safe place… here…" She lead the entire group back to her house and into a small room with a futon and racks of weapons including shruiken, staffs, and swords. The ninja walked to the back of the room where a small closet stood, and pushed the wall next to it. _Click._ The wall opened, and she pulled out the backpack of materia. She handed it to Cloud. "There." she smiled brightly. "Well… um… I'll guess I'll see you… um… Good luck!"

Aerith hugged Yuffie tightly. "Take care of yourself! No stealing, Yuffs – Wutai's strength should come from its people, like you!"

Tifa nodded. "It'll get far stronger without shortcuts like materia!"

The pilot gagged. "Are we gonna make this some drawn out, mushy gushy shit? Let's go already!"

"Yeah," Cloud nodded, "It's time to go. Bye, Yuffie."

She waved, as they left her house. "Don't forget to initiate Vince and Grandpa!" she called to their retreating backs.

When they were out of sight, she ran from her house, orange sneakers slamming on the dirt as she sprinted up the beaten path to the Da Chao Mountains. Just before she got there, she turned sharply left, onto a hill that was shaded by trees. Black marble tombstones sat serenely on the hill, Wutain characters showing the names of the Dead to her staring grey eyes. One tombstone in particular drew her attention. "…What do you think I should do?" she asked, knowing that no answer would come. "What should I do?" she directed her attention to the sky. "Leviathan? Da Chao? What would help Wutai?"

Tears threatened to build up in her eyes. It was always Wutai, _always_. She had been born to rule it, but to rule, she had to save it first. "How? …If the Planet is destroyed… Wutai would be destroyed too… So… to save Wutai… I have to save the Planet first!" She whirled round and ran out of the town to where AVALANCHE stood talking about some temple.

"Wait!" the ninja yelled. "I want to come! I can help! Please!"

They turned; Aerith smiled. "I told you she would be back."

Barrett sighed. "Damn shame."

"No one asked you," snapped Yuffie.

"Look," Cloud stated, "So far you've proved to be a liar and a thief." She hung her head. "But also a valuable fighter and a quick thinker. But… it's not really my decision… Not this time."

"We'll have a vote."


	5. Chapter 5

Promised Hell

Promised Hell

Chapter Five

**Disclaimer: **I own a copy of Final Fantasy VII, so yes, I own the game! However, I don't own the characters, the places… Any of that. That's all Square.

**Author's Note:** Woot. Finally, it's been a while, ne? Anyway, sorry for the delay, not only did I go camping for 10 days… my mom had my computer for a week, and then it ended up being a longer chapter than expected. So this chapter has been unofficially dubbed the random conversation chapter, haha. Basically… it's setting stuff up for later chapters, but I had a blast writing it… conversation is my favorite thing to write. By the way, for those of you who don't know, when Yuffie talks about getting "Sad" it's a reference to the game status sad that you can get from using Tranquilizers… it makes the Limit Gauge take longer to fill up, but it is called Sad, so it probably causes depression… That's just my thoughts. Thanks once more to my friends for putting up with me, and Star Anise for beta-ing for me. Read and Review, and I hope you like it!

* * *

"A vote?" Yuffie asked, paleing.

Cloud nodded. "I'm not going to vote unless I need to break a tie, but everyone else gets a vote. Aerith, do you think Yuffie should be able to come?"

"Of course!" the pink-clad woman said.

"Tifa?"

The martial artist smiled. "I think she should come."

"Cid?"

"No way – all the fuckin' brat does is cause trouble!"

Yuffie turned her head away from Cid, staring at her brightly coloured shoes.

"Barret?"

"No." The large man crossed his arms, glaring at Yuffie.

"Cait Sith?"

She inwardly breathed a sigh of relief; Cait Sith and she were buddies, especially when it came to playing cards… He wouldn't…

"Nope! She betrayed us! Traitors are awful!"

No one had thought it was possible for the girl to get any paler, but she managed it.

"Nanaki?"

"I believe she should be allowed to continue."

"…It's a tie…" Yuffie turned to the only person who had not voted yet.

"Vincent?"

The ninja sighed. That was _it_. Her journey ended here… After everything she had done to the poor man… Stolen his wallet, lied to him, annoyed him, and left a mean note in his pocket… He was going to say no.

"…She may come."

The two women hugged the shocked girl tightly, squealing in joy. Yuffie stared wide-eyed at the man who had sealed her fate and mouthed 'Thank you'. He nodded. the group began the trek back to the Tiny Bronco, which was much easier now that they had their materia back and, admittedly, having the small ninja with them as well made the journey easier.

Yuffie grinned and asked, "So when we initiating Grandpa, and Vince?"

"We already did… but… you can see next rainy day, all right?" Aerith directed her overly bright smile at the teenager.

Cid and Vincent exchanged a glance; they did not remember being initiated… What was the woman talking about? "Damn…" Yuffie sighed. "Ok… next time we get a break… we'll watch 'em!"

"Sounds good," laughed Tifa.

"So… uhh… Where are we going again?"

"The Temple of the Ancients… that's where Sephiroth is going… but rumor has it that we need the 'Keystone' first…" Cloud sighed.

"So… uh… where is the Keystone?"

"Dio has it! At the Golden Saucer! But he won't let us have it for free…" the robotic cat spoke up; after all, it _had_ worked for the man before and knew him the best of them all.

"Well," the ex-SOLDIER frowned, "I suppose we'll deal with that when we get there… We _have_ to get the Keystone."

They piled onto the fallen Tiny Bronco. Cid revved up the plane-turned-boat and Yuffie sighed, leaning over the side of the vehicle, her face already green. It jolted into motion and they left the island of Wutai.

From her spot on one of the pink wings, the Cetra smiled at the martial artist who was sitting in the middle of the plane. "Hey Teef, over here!" She waved the younger woman over.

She grinned and walked over, "What?"

"What will you do? After we save the Planet?" Her large green eyes sparkled as she looked at the cloud-filled sky. _After_, not _if._ As if there was not a single doubt in her mind that they would save the Planet.

"Well…" Tifa looked at her gloved hands that were as good as any weapon. "...I'm not sure… Maybe I'll… I don't really know… I haven't really thought that far yet, you know? What are you going to do?"

The other woman sighed, suddenly looking older than her twenty-two years. "I don't know either. Maybe I'll go back to selling flowers, but around the planet. It's nice to travel, and to see the world. And there just aren't enough flowers these days…"

She nodded. "Yeah… wouldn't it be kind of dangerous though?"

Aerith laughed, the light sound erasing the age on her face. "Oh, you guys! You're all so worried about me... I can take care of myself; I grew up in the slums, remember?"

Her soft smile in place, Tifa said, "Yeah, we know…. It's just… you're my best friend," her voice was quiet, as if she was not used to speaking her feelings, "and you're so kind that it seems like you _couldn't_ protect yourself… I _have_ to worry; we _all_ worry..."

Her free laugh rang again, and the Cetra said, "All right, you win." Her fair face lit up. "So, Tifa, other than Cloud, did you have any men in your life?"

For a second, Tifa wondered if maybe Aerith was trying to figure out a way to take the swordsman for herself, but then she remembered a conversation the two of them had had a while ago.

"_Tifa?" Aerith whispered from her sleeping bag next to her, "Are you awake?"_

_She sighed. She was starting to get used to the idea that Cetras needed less sleep than humans did apparently, and the fact that Aerith did not like to be alone, especially at night it seemed. "Yeah, what is it?"_

"_Sorry." her pearly teeth caught her lip. "I won't keep you up long… I was just thinking… You like Cloud don't you?"_

"_Wha– No! Of course not!" The martial artist felt her cheeks heat up._

"…_Really... I guess I can have him all to myself then," the Cetra said airily._

_Tifa inwardly cursed the older woman's intuition or whatever it was that allowed her to see people's feelings. She really did not want to think about the fact that she was starting to develop a crush on Cloud; they were trying to save the world… Not to star in a romance novel… Nevertheless, she was not going to give up without a fight… "No…" she sighed "...I do."_

"_I knew it!" Aerith squealed softly. "Oh, it's so cute!"_

"_But– but don't you like him too?"_

"_Yes," she said simply, "But if you two ended up together, I would be happy for you. You're my best friend and I want you to be happy."_

_Ah. Tifa understood now – she wanted to tell her that even if they did compete for Cloud, they would still be friends. Relief washed over her; her friendship with Aerith would not be ruined by Cloud. "Ok, Aerith. And if you ended up with him, I'd be happy for you too. So… no matter who ends up with Cloud… we'll still be friends, ok?"_

_Aerith beamed at her, "Ok… go to sleep, Tifa… I'll see you in the morning."_

And considering it was Aerith, she was certain that she was simply curious. "One… but… I just liked him for a while. Nothing ever came of it, and nothing ever will," her dark eyes stared up at the sky.

"…Did you like him a lot?"

"Yeah," she whispered. "Look! Nibelheim!" A long slender finger pointed at the beach.

Cid steered the Tiny Bronco to the shore, and they gazed back at the town where, as far as they knew, their entire quest had started. Even though the town had supposedly been burned down, but looked like it had never so much as seen a house fire. "Why are we here?" Vincent asked softly.

"Our buggy is here," said Cloud with a shrug. "It'll be faster to get to North Corel if we take it."

Vincent nodded, and AVALANCHE walked onto the shore. Yuffie flopped onto the ground and murmured "I love the earth. The earth is my friend."

"Yeah… I hate motion sickness," Cloud agreed.

Tifa and Aerith exchanged frowns, but… when he was telling them about his mission in Nibelheim five years ago… hadn't he told a Shinra Soldier that he had never had motion sickness? So why was he talking to Yuffie as if he had it before…?

"Are we going back into the damned car?" the ninja asked darkly.

The ex-SOLIDER nodded, "Yeah, so… we only have seven seats… and nine people. Cait Sith, you'll have to go in the trunk again."

"What! I see what this is! You're treating me different because I'm a robot, and I don't have feelings!" Cait Sith shrieked in its high-pitched voice.

"No. You're too big to fit in one of the seats, so you'll just have to be in the trunk." His words left no room for argument. "Nanaki, you won't fit in a seat either, so you'll sit on the floor in the back seats. I'll drive, Barret, you get shotgun. Hmm… Yuffie, you'll be in the back because of your motion sickness, and one other person needs to sit back there with her…"

Aerith raised her hand and waved it frantically like an overexcited schoolgirl who knew the answer. "Put me with her! Maybe I can do something for her!"

"All right," Cloud said, the ghost of a smile gracing his features at the Cetra's antics – it was easy to forget that she was older than he was sometimes… and others, it was painfully obvious…

"_Aerith?" the man stopped and looked at the silent girl, the flames of the Cosmo Candle flickering in her too-wise eyes. "What are you still doing awake?"_

_She turned from the fire to him, and graced him with a soft smile. "I wasn't tired. Why are you still up? We're leaving for Nibelheim tomorrow; you should get as much rest as possible. Who knows what we'll find?"_

_Cloud came over and took a seat next to her. "Tifa says you haven't slept in two days… as far as she knows."_

"_I need less sleep. I've been reading – apparently the Cetra only had to sleep once every two weeks to be rejuvenated; they were so close to the Planet that they could be powered for long periods of time by it without having to rest. My limit is about three days." She sighed, turning back to the fire. "I don't think I'm a full Cetra… I must be half-human too."_

"…_Aerith?"_

"_When I talked to the elders earlier, they said that they didn't think it was possible for a Cetra and a human to breed successfully." Her pale hands folded in her lap, toying with the hem of her long dress. "I guess they can though; the Planet's voice is so faint most of the time, when it was supposed to be strong, and clear. I always blamed it on Midgar and the Reactors…but I think it was that my hearing wasn't strong enough."_

_Cloud frowned. He really did not know what to say – there was not really anything he could say; nothing that would make it better at any rate. There was not a lot you could say to someone who was the last of an ancient race._

"_I'm alone, Cloud," she said simply. "But… It doesn't really matter. I have you all, even if you're all human, and I'm not. Speaking of which, Cloud, you really should go to bed…"_

"_All right. Don't think about it too much. you're right; we are with you… 'Night Aerith." He walked away, his face troubled._

Cloud was snapped out of his reverie by Tifa saying, "So that leaves me, Vincent, and Cid in the second row."

"Right, let's mosey!" They all piled into the red and purple buggy.

Barret sat in the passenger seat and looked over at Cloud. "So, Spike, how are we gonna get the Keystone from the Dio guy?"

"Well, I don't know. We'll ask him for it… and if he doesn't agree to let us have it… We'll have to take it with force."

"Yeah, but their security is fuckin' good, remember? We'd all get caught!" Barret thought for a second. Anyone else might have judged the enormous man by his appearance, but Cloud knew better, even though he was impulsive… you didn't run a rebellion without a head on your shoulders. "We could have the brat take it; she seems to be pretty damn good at it!"

"Barret..." Cloud sighed, and then thought a second. "...That _might_ work, actually, but I'd rather not steal if we don't have to…"

"Yeah, whatever, Spike. So, we leavin' or what?"

The ex-SOLDIER inserted the key into the ignition and the buggy roared into life. from the back seat, Yuffie groaned. "This is gonna– urk! Suck!"

"So… your motion sickness, what do you get it on?" asked Aerith as her delicate hands pulled the seatbelt over her slim waist and clicked it into the port, glancing over at the girl who had pulled out a paper bag.

"On chocobos, cars, planes, boats… Anything that moves that isn't me or another person. Being carried doesn't make me sick," the ninja said, between retches.

"Oh yuck!" she said sympathetically. "And when did you start getting motion sick?"

"When I was… seven, I think… But… Aerith… I… it's not… I can't…" She hung her head.

"Not…" Yuffie sighed. "Never mind…"

"Do you want a tranquilizer?" asked the Cetra.

"No, it won't help me at all…"

"If you're sure…" she frowned. "Is there anything I _can_ do?"

"Yeah," she said softly. "Tell me a story?"

Aerith raised an eyebrow and then laughed. "All right, I'll tell you a story. Once upon a time… there was a young girl, who only wanted to do the best for what she loved. However, she didn't know what the best was, so she did bad things to get what she wanted. It hurt many people, but the girl never thought about it; she was too consumed in her quest. One day, the girl met a group of people who were trying to do the best for what they loved, just like she was, and she tagged along, to get what she wanted from them. Eventually she got it, but they took it back, and the girl felt bad. One of the people in the group, a woman," – she smiled softly – "told the girl she'd be willing to help her figure out the right way to help that which she loved. And the woman did, and soon the girl was friends with everyone in the group; she even fell in love with someone, and she didn't have to do bad things anymore. She lived happily ever after."

Yuffie looked at her with wide eyes. "...You'd really help me stop stealing?" she asked between bouts of motion sickness.

"And lying." Aerith nodded. "And I'm sure Tifa would too."

"Really?" the girl's eyes filled with tears, but she wiped them away quickly, before turning green again. The ninja's small form shook with sobs, as more tears slid down her face, and the Cetra had to wonder how long it had been since someone offered to help the small girl.

"Five years is a long time to be alone, isn't it? And you're so young." Aerith sighed.

Nanaki, who had been watching the exchange with his single golden open, said, "Especially for a human."

Aerith looked over at him and nodded. "They are so social… if they aren't around other humans… It just does strange things to their development…"

He nodded, and looked sympathetically at the tearful girl. "And you're wrong if you think only you and Tifa will help her. I believe all of us are rather attached to her, after all."

She nodded, "Thanks."

Yuffie hiccupped, and hurled again. "T-thanks…"

"Don't mention it!"

In the second row, Tifa was squashed between Cid and Vincent. "So Vince; you really a demon?" asked the pilot, taking a long drag from his cigarette.

"…Yes."

"Hmm, that's kinda weird." He frowned. "The brat was actually _right_."

"Hey, Vincent… were you born that way?" Tifa asked.

"…No, I was not born a demon."

"So how'd you–" the gunslinger cut Cid off.

"…I do not wish to speak of it. It was irresponsible of me to accompany you; I could turn into Galian Beast at any time… and who knows what would happen?"

"Man, you really are a brooder, ain't cha?"

"…?"

"We can take care of ourselves, so don't worry yer little head."

"But… I…"

"Vincent," Tifa said, "We don't care if you're a demon, and all you did was finish off a monster we never would have been able to kill…"

"…What about next time?" he pointed out.

"Like Cid said, we can take care of ourselves, and we'll keep the Sleepel materia and tranquilizers on us… Just in case, all right? Just don't leave… you said you'd help, you won't go back on you promise, will you?" She cracked her knuckles with an intent look that informed Vincent that it would be a bad idea to say yes.

"…No…"

"Good, so… you were a Turk, right?"

"Yes, I used to be a Turk" affirmed Vincent.

"We've run into a few Turks before… but what do they do?" she asked.

"No good," snorted Cid with a scowl.

"Turks do the dirty work of the country. Assassination, kidnapping, spying, paperwork," said the gunslinger softly.

"Blowing up Sectors…" said Tifa, bitter eyes on her shoes.

He shut his eye briefly, but nodded. "_Whatever_ the company orders."

"That's some messed up shit!" said the pilot. "But in the Space Department–"

"That's right! You used to work with Shinra too!" Tifa said with a frown.

"Yeah. Anyway, we heard rumors about the Turks… torturin' people and such." he lit up another cigarette, throwing the old butt out the window, "And they always made a big joke about quittin' that we never understood."

"We tried not to use torture unless it was necessary. As for quitting, Turks don't _quit_."

Tifa raised an eyebrow. "Why not?"

"Once you're a Turk, you're a Turk for life. You have too much information about Shinra. If you are fired… they kill you. If you quit… they kill you."

"What about you?"

"I resigned."

"Won't they kill you?"

"If they could."

"Can they?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"I am a demon. I cannot die." Cid noticed the miniscule change in tone that he knew marked the end of the conversation.

The buggy stopped outside of the small town North Corel. "Ok, everybody out!" Cloud said.

They all got out of the buggy, stepping onto the grass, and walked to the town. All of them pretended not to notice the stares… no... the _glares_ that followed Barret as he went. The people blamed him for the destruction of the old town, and thus the poverty of the new one. He had just wanted a better life for his wife; he hadn't known that the Reactor would malfunction when he told Dyne that Mako was the way of the future. He hadn't known that when the Reactor blew, Shinra would blame Corel and set the town aflame. He hadn't known that he would lose his wife, his best friend, and his arm. Hadn't known that he would gain a daughter. The villagers didn't care if he hadn't known; they still blamed him – it was easier that way.

With their heads bowed, AVALANCHE shuffled through the town while people sent dirty looks at them. Cid growled and gave the people a one-fingered salute. "Knock it off," said Barret softly. "Gonna do more harm than good!"

"Whatever," shrugged the pilot, putting down his finger.

They climbed the stairs to the tram that would take them to the Golden Saucer. "I don't wanna go," complained Yuffie. "It's been thing after thing… First the Bronco, then the car, now this?"

"Come on, Yuffie. We need to go, take a tranquilizer," suggested Tifa.

"I can't. They don't work that well, and I took some on our way to Wutai. Any more and I'll get Sad…"

"Then stop whining, it's hurting my ears," said Nanaki. "We can't waste anymore time. You may rest whilst we retrieve the Keystone. We have enough GP from last time so that you can stay in the Inn."

"How'd we get the GP?"

"We got it chocobo racing," said Aerith with a giggle.

"But we don't have a chocobo…" frowned Yuffie.

"You can bet on the races," explained Tifa.

"You guys gambled… without me?" the ninja demanded.

"You're too young," laughed the martial artist, leading them onto the tram.

Cloud raised a blonde eyebrow at his childhood friend. "This coming from the woman who let a four-year-old girl watch a bar."

"As long as she didn't drink any of it…" The corner of his mouth twitched lightly. "...Oh my god, you were joking, weren't you?"

He turned away, hiding a smile. "Let's go."

Aerith put a hand to her mouth to stifle a giggle as everyone got in the tram. The second it lurched into motion, Yuffie turned a bright shade of green and sprawled out on the floor. Thankfully, the ride to the Golden Saucer was fairly short, so she did not suffer too long.

They got off the tram, and since they had all ready bought the Golden Saucer Membership, they did not have to pay to get in again. "All right, Yuffie, here's ten GP for the Inn… Cid and Cait Sith, you two come help me get the Keystone. Everyone else… go do whatever, I don't care." Cloud, Cid, and Cait Sith ran off, as Yuffie stumbled into the Ghost Square.

Everyone else shrugged, Aerith grinned at Tifa. "Wanna go see Yuffie?"

"Sure," the two women linked arms and followed the ninja.

Barret, Nanaki, and Vincent all exchanged a glance. The large man laughed. "Women. Can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em."

Vincent looked away; his experience with women had always been sex, and more recently, heartbreak. Things he could have lived without. His chest ached as the thoughts of the beautiful scientist filled his mind – love was a painful thing.

"Yo, Vincent, you there?" Barret waved his real hand in front of the gunslinger's pale face.

"…What?"

"I asked if there was a female in your life before the coffin," said Nanaki, his one golden eye watched the man intently.

"…Yes… There was. But I do not wish to speak of it. What about yourself?" Asking a question to divert the attention from yourself was a common Turk information gathering tactic.

"I am the last of my species, and I have been in the hands of Shinra for many years. So no, I have no female in my life." The canine shrugged his red shoulders. "I am sure I will find a companion. I am the last, so it lies with me to keep my line from becoming extinct."

Barret laughed. "Man, that's deep!"

"How about you, Barret?"

"I hadda wife. Myrna died when Corel was destroyed." he looked down bitterly. "Loved her more'n anythin'. She was a little lady, but damn, give 'er a shotgun and she'd beatcha every time. Strong willed, strong minded, strong hearted. She was an amazin' woman, my Myrna was." He walked away, dark eyes downcast. "The _best_ woman."

The gunslinger sighed. "Losing the woman you love is a hard thing."

"You speak from experience." The canine observed Vincent's face hardening, before he continued. "I will not press you. I will leave that task for those more nosey than myself."

Both of their thoughts drifted to the three women in the Inn.

"Heya Aerith? Do you believe in Hell?" asked Yuffie.

The ninja was sprawled on the large bed, her head propped on the pillow at the top of the bed, while Aerith and Tifa sat at the foot of the bed. "Well… there's less in books on Hell than there are on the Promised Land, or even the Lifestream." The Cetra turned so that she was sitting on the edge of the bed, her booted feet swinging back and forth.

"…And?"

"The Planet mainly speaks of the Promised Land, the Cetra, the Calamity, the Lifestream… Pain… But it _has_ mentioned a Hell before. I believe in Hell, because not everyone can go to the Lifestream or the Promised Land–"

"What _is_ the Promised Land?" asked Tifa with a frown; they had explained it to her a couple of times… but mostly she had heard what Shinra said about the Promised Land; that it was a land of infinite Mako…

"The Promised Land, the Land of Supreme Happiness… that's all I know. The Cetra spent their lives looking for the Promised Land," Aerith shrugged.

"Did they ever find it?"

"I don't know… But I don't think the meaning is literal."

"In Wutai… the old farts say that the Promised Land is a place you can go after you die and you were good," the ninja spoke up.

"Exactly. _They spent their lives looking for the Promised Land._ I think it means they did good deeds all their lives so that in the afterlife they could be happy in the Promised Land."

"How do you know?" asked Tifa with a raised eyebrow, as she tried to wrap her mind around the idea that the Promised Land was a form of the afterlife.

"I don't," the Cetra said simply. "But I've been guessing for awhile now. We've been just about everywhere in the world and we've never found it – I'd have _known_. Plus the world isn't that big, and many generations of Cetra spent their whole lives searching for the Promised Land…. Why did they never find it? They couldn't have, or they would have stopped looking. Also, happiness changes from person to person. A place in life could never grant every single person supreme happiness… Books from Wutai lead me to believe the same, although," she paused to catch her breath, her pale cheeks flushed in excitement, "they _are_ religious texts, so I really can't rely too much on them. But I read some of Dr. Gast's work in Cosmo Canyon, and after speaking to Ilfana, my birth mother, he believed the same thing I do."

Yuffie winced at the name Dr. Gast, but said, "Jeez, Aerith, you sure are a nerd… But what about Hell?" she got them back on topic.

"Oh! Right, Hell. I think that Hell and the Promised Land are the Planet's filtration and reward systems. Life, by definition, is grey. So when a person does things that are more white than can be considered grey, they are sent to the Promised Land so that there isn't too much white in the Lifestream, which would tip the balance, and Life would become to white. But they are also rewarded with Happiness for doing Good deeds. Same goes for Hell… but for things that are too black… they go to Hell to keep the Lifestream from becoming too black, but also to punish Sinners," explained Aerith.

Just then, Cloud walked in, holding a small brown stone. "We got the Keystone," he told the three girls, "But the Ropeway broke down, so we're staying here for the night. Do you three mind sharing a room?"

"It's fine with me," shrugged the ninja, the other two nodded.

"All right… I'm gonna go put the Keystone in Cid, Barret, and my room." With a wave, the blonde ex-SOLDIER was gone.

Aerith stood up. "I'll see you guys later." She waved, and ran after Cloud.

"What do you think she's doing?" asked Yuffie with a frown.

"I dunno… But I think I'm going to go see what everyone else is doing… Are you ok on your own?" Tifa looked at her in concern.

"I'm the Great Ninja Yuffie, a little thing like motion sickness will never defeat me!"

The martial artist nodded, and left the room. Only to see Barret leaning against the wall. "Barret? Are you all right?"

"Yeah… I just miss 'er…" Barret knew that he could trust Tifa, after all, they had worked together in AVALANCHE.

"Marlene?"

"Myrna…"

"…Your wife, right?"

"Yeah…" he bowed his head. "It still hurts like she just died yesterday."

The door opened, to reveal Aerith pushing Cloud. "Come on, it'll be fun!"

"But… Aerith… you don't have to… You've paid enough all read–"

"I want to. You're not scared, are you? It's just a date." She giggled, and resumed pushing him. "Come on!"

"All right…" he nodded, looking back at the flower girl with a fond smile. The two left the Inn with laughter from Aerith, and chuckles from Cloud.

Tifa watched them go with wide eyes. _Date…?_ She remembered now… Cloud had been her bodyguard in exchange for a _date._ After she had to beg and plead with him to help her with AVALANCHE… and she'd had to pay him 2000 gil! But then again… Aerith had this aura around her… everybody_ loved_ Aerith… Then she sighed; at least she was happy.

"Damn kid is blind… He doesn't notice that you an' her both love 'im" Barret said. "He'll realize eventually."

"I hope so" she whispered, bowing her head.

Yuffie walked out of her room with a yawn, she felt a lot better. "Oi, brat!" a voice from behind her said. She turned to see Cid, the sandy-haired pilot.

"What, Grandpa?" she growled. He had opted not to let her come; what could he possible want?

"Don't you dare try to steal anything else, or you're done savin' the world… got it? I'll make sure of it!"

"Asshole! Don't try and tell me what to do; I'll kick your ass!" She pulled out her shruiken.

"You wanna bet! I can take a punk like you any day!"

"What's your problem?"

"You steal from everyone with no respect for anything! You're a brat!"

"Yeah? You shouldn't be judging me! You're the one who treats Shera like trash!"

"Get outa my sight! You don't know shit!"

The two stormed into their separate rooms, red-faced with fury. A second later, Cid came back out. "The fuckin' Keystone is gone!"

Everyone stared at him. "_What_?" They all ran to stand in front of him. Everyone but Cloud, Aerith, and Cait Sith.

"It must have been Cait Sith," said Nanaki with a frown. "But why would he…?"

A second later, Cloud, Aerith, and Cait Sith came back. Cloud looked at them all coldly, "Cait Sith just handed the Keystone over to the Turks. But, he's kidnapped Elmyra… Aerith's foster mother, and Marlene, Barret's daughter, so we have to keep him with us. He's a Shinra spy."

"Marlene!" Barret snarled. "You bastard!" He ran towards the robotic cat, but Tifa held him back.

"Don't! You'll make it worse, Barret!"

Aerith nodded sadly. "He says they'll be safe… as long as we allow him to come with us."

"Damnit!" swore Cid. "You fucking traitor!"

"Knock it off… Go to bed. We head for the Temple tomorrow, Keystone or no, spy or no. Get some rest."

They all nodded, and everyone but Cloud and Aerith left. He looked over at her with a pained look. "I… Listen, Aerith, I'm sorry I got you dragged into this…"

Aerith froze, and looked at him with her hands on her hips. "Cloud, I've told you before, I wanted to come. I never wanted to live in Midgar… and by now… Shinra would probably already have me. I don't regret coming, or meeting you all. This is the best thing I've ever done in my life… I'm glad… that I get to see the Planet."

"But…"

"Look… if you feel so badly… After all this is over… help me plant flowers at the church, and we'll consider it even… ok?" She looked at him with sad green eyes.

"All right... it's a date then."


End file.
